Are the Conficker masters really as cryptographically sophisticated as the article describes? They implemented an encryption algorithm that had been submitted

Are the Conficker masters really as cryptographically sophisticated as the article describes? They implemented an encryption algorithm that had been submitted as a SHA-3 candidate, complete with its flaws, then updated it to patch the flaw only after the author of the algorithm corrected his own work. Similarly, they exploited a flaw in Windows only after Microsoft released a security update describing the bug. The Conficker creators are certainly paying attention and taking advantage of the right opportunities, but they're not quite the super-genius polymaths that the article is making them out to be.