If the NSA has been hacking everything, how has nobody seen them coming?

[Axon]

So, this was posted on reddit for a couple days, it's interesting and good to read. The author is merely trying to answer a fundamental question to the NSA hacking scandal. Why did we never see it coming?
http://blog.thinkst.com/p/if-nsa-has-been-hacking-everything-how.html
Obviously, we are facing a very sophisticated offensive machine? 

[madf0x]

I believe its for the simple reason that attribution has always been neigh impossible. When people get caught hacking its always something like following the paper money trail, some skid being profoundly dumb, getting rat out by someone who knows too much, etc.

And it's almost always law enforcement doing the attribution. Outside of doxing, vigilantism, and the occasional lucky and savvy sys admin, its law enforcement bringing culprits to the lime light. Simply because they have the resources and authorization to do so. However you take someone like the NSA that has more resources and authorization, its easy for them to shut the whole thing down.

How many hacks go uncovered? Data spirited away with no one knowing who did it? I'd say the vast majority of hacks go this path, and thats only the ones we know about. Any number of these could be keyboard jockeys, tight lipped friends, quiet underground crime rings, etc and some of them are also likely to be nation state attacks. You only need to use weapons as sophisticated as your target, so we only hear about stuxnet level attacks against nuclear reactors and telecos, anything less can be achieved with standard go to pentesting styled attacks that looks just like everyone elses attacks.

[DemonRZ]

Well, like madf0x has been saying, we never think to look at what the people who were put into office what they do to keep that freedom intact.

I'm not saying its right, by ANY means, they probably do the same things we do as hackers, they research, and most likely bribe. Companies sell our information to the highest bidder, that's common knowledge, and think about who has all the money? The Government.

I approve of what Snowden did, yeah, it sucks that it had to be found out that way, and what they did to him, but he saw something wasn't right, and made a stand. I can applaud anyone for doing that.

I guess what I'm trying to say is this, hacking in any form, can be wrong, and can be right, it all depends on what side of the spectrum you are on. You make the choice to do something, then You can accept the consequences, and that's what's happening to the NSA now. They're cover has been blown and are facing the consequences.