I originally came here to comment how crazy it seems that DoD employees at NSA cannot be bothered to cover their tracks by working nonstandard hours/holidays (obviously Mil & Intel folks do this, they even get deployed!). But the thought occurred to me that attribution to NSA was likely a desired outcome here (“We can hack you too”) and there are probably many people at NSA working nonstandard hours/days to prevent attribution.

I think the English language aspect is much more interesting and difficult/impossible to prevent.

It sounds exciting and all but it’s basically a boring government office job, the employees mostly have families, expect regular work hours, etc.

Technical talent with transferable skills for higher paying work aren't incentivized to work on deployment schedule. But really, why assume NSA capable of obfuscating against PRC also stacked with talent. The parsimonious answer is then why bother, everyone knows they're deep in each others networks for decades and will continue to be. So let the hackers have their weekends.

I agree, but I would go further and say (written) English language is as easy to emulate. There are technical people with great written English skills who will give away their non-Anglophone identities at the first sentence they speak.

I get it, but this is just such a cynical take…devoting time & energy during your ramp up to identifying enemies seems to set the wrong tone from day 1. People will take notice no matter how hard you try to conceal it, and that will follow you around. First impressions matter, for you and those around you.

I suggest the opposite: assume good intent from everyone, listen a lot, don’t be afraid to ask dumb questions, identify people who can help your team and identify people who need your help. In leadership, the job is not about you, it’s about setting up your team for success.