I've seen this play out a few times recently in NIST standards/"guidelines" or other protocols since Dual_EC_DRBG and have the opinion that there's two very opp

I've seen this play out a few times recently in NIST standards/"guidelines" or other protocols since Dual_EC_DRBG and have the opinion that there's two very opposed competing forces within not just the NSA but other agencies in general. There's plenty of publicly employed individuals who work hard to secure stuff properly, it's their entire remit. While I disagree with the pervasive surveillance state the west is creating for itself, this is not a terrible situation to have and I wish those fighting the good fight all the best. It's for the rest of the us to work out who is who though! Cryptographers seem to be suitably aware though.