@Olivier5,
Olivier5 wrote:
The problem with Snowden is that he gave all the NSA softwares to Russia. Thus making sure the problem of mass spying becomes global rather than local.
That's not entirely accurate, Snowden sucked up a colossal amount of data which provided enemies how much we knew about their efforts against us and our allies. It was unclear if equipment was contaminated which caused the US and every country that cooperates with us and each other to scrub down and replace equipment. Sensitive material shared between countries was likely provided to the Chinese and Russians. Individuals who may have unknowingly been referenced in the stolen data were compromised and in danger. Neither Russia or China worry about innocent before found guilty.
But it was genius that the guy who worked for Booz Allen for 10 weeks and embellished his resume to make himself like a modern day robin hood presented material that looked as if the US was surveilling innocent civilians, people bought it. He provided so much more than software, it gave Russia an advantage and a better understanding of our knowledge of their efforts to infiltrate and sow dissent. It worked.