> The only other (not totally implausible) explanation is that different departments within the NSA are so disconnected from each other that they have started t

> The only other (not totally implausible) explanation is that different departments within the NSA are so disconnected from each other that they have started to work against each other. Not at all implausible; this was literally, and very deliberately, the case. There was offense -- SIGINT -- and there was defense -- the Information Assurance Directorate -- operating largely independently. Here's [the previous director, Mike Rogers, on the division][0]: > This traditional approach we have where we created these two cylinders of excellence and then built walls of granite between them As you can read in that article, though, the two halves were merged a few years ago in a reorg. [0]:http://fortune.com/2016/02/03/nsa-reorg-combine-offense-defense/ http://fortune.com/2016/02/03/nsa-reorg-combine-offense-defe...