Earlier quoted context omitted.
What I find really interesting about the NSA is their Suite A: classified algorithms (!) used to protect the most sensitive documents (!!) with hilariously bad security records (!!!). Take for instance the Skipjack cipher ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skipjack_(cipher) ), a Type I cipher ("endorsed by the NSA for securing classified and sensitive U.S. Government information") which was evaluated, for the purpose of…
They broke 16 out of 32 rounds, with an unrealistic amount of chosen-plaintext. It's not really something to write home about. Rijndael was selected as AES when the best known attack broke 7 out of 10 rounds.
They broke 31 out of 32 rounds.
In cryptography, if you break 1 bit, you've broken it. No excuse.