Hacks Raise Fear Over NSA's Hold on Cyberweapons (nytimes.com)

Nicole Perlroth, and David Sanger, writing for The New York Times: Twice in the past month, National Security Agency cyberweapons stolen from its arsenal have been turned against two very different partners of the United States -- Britain and Ukraine. The N.S.A. has kept quiet, not acknowledging its role in developing the weapons (alternative source). White House officials have deflected many questions, and responded to others by arguing that the focus should be on the attackers themselves, not the manufacturer of their weapons. But the silence is wearing thin for victims of the assaults, as a series of escalating attacks using N.S.A. cyberweapons have hit hospitals, a nuclear site and American businesses. Now there is growing concern that United States intelligence agencies have rushed to create digital weapons that they cannot keep safe from adversaries or disable once they fall into the wrong hands. On Wednesday, the calls for the agency to address its role in the latest attacks grew louder, as victims and technology companies cried foul. Representative Ted Lieu, a California Democrat and a former Air Force officer who serves on the House Judiciary and Foreign Affairs Committees, urged the N.S.A. to help stop the attacks and to stop hoarding knowledge of the computer vulnerabilities upon which these weapons rely.

Comments

The other thing to remember

[PraiseBob]

One other aspect to keep in mind- For YEARS now, the intelligence services of the USA have been pouring millions of dollars a year into the Black Hat Black Markets, where these vulnerabilities are traded and sold. They aren't some bit player, occasionally picking up a new trick, they are the primary source of funding to many of these marketplaces.

The bugs would still exist either way, but the government has been intentionally funding organized crime into developing these vulnerabilities, and making the situation much worse. Since they are the primary entity putting money into this marketplace, they are playing the key role to allow black hats to quit their day job and focus on writing exploits.