Security Breach and Spilled Secrets Have Shaken the N.S.A. to Its Core<br />Whoever wrote this either was a well-placed insider or had stolen a lot of operational data.”<br />The jolt to Mr. Williams from the Shadow Brokers’ riposte was part of a much broader earthquake that has shaken the N. S.A.<br />Current and former agency officials say the Shadow Brokers disclosures, which began in August 2016, have been catastrophic<br />for the N. S.A., calling into question its ability to protect potent cyberweapons and its very value to national security.<br />“Is NSA chasing shadowses?” the Shadow Brokers asked in a post on Oct. 16, mocking the agency’s inability to understand the leaks<br />and announcing a price cut for subscriptions to its “monthly dump service” of stolen N. S.A.<br />One passage, possibly hinting at the Shadow Brokers’ identity, underscored the close relationship of Russian intelligence to criminal hackers.<br />“The agency doesn’t know how to stop it — or even what ‘it’ is.”<br />official who almost saw his career ended by the Shadow Brokers is at the very top of the organization: Adm. Michael S. Rogers, director of the N. S.A.<br />and commander of its sister military organization, United States Cyber Command.<br />But according to former N. S.A.<br />employees who are still in touch with active workers, investigators of the Shadow Brokers thefts are clearly worried<br />that one or more leakers may still be inside the agency.
