Recent hacks call into question just how well the government can actually keep its secrets, however.
A hacking group called the Shadow Brokers stole and leaked "sophisticated, very sensitive, high-end, really weapons-grade computer code" from the NSA, former NSA General Counsel Matthew Olsen told NPR this week.
"The agency regarded as the world's leader in breaking into adversaries' computer networks failed to protect its own," as The New York Times recently described it. "Created at huge expense to American taxpayers, those cyberweapons have now been picked up by hackers from North Korea to Russia and shot back at the United States and its allies."
Earlier this year, businesses across the world were hit by ransomware attacks, locking hundreds of thousands out of their data. The malware behind those attacks, which exploited a Microsoft vulnerability, was reportedly stolen from the NSA as well.
"Repeatedly, exploits in the hands of governments have leaked into the public domain and caused widespread damage," Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote afterward.
The White House's Joyce pre-emptively pushed back, writing, "I also predict that articles will make breathless claims of 'massive stockpiles' of exploits while describing the issue. That simply isn't true."
At an event Wednesday, Joyce also said: "The kinds of vulnerabilities we use ... are rarely rediscovered by anyone else."