Dave Aitel is CEO of Immunity Inc., a leading offensive security firm that serves major financial institutions, industrials, Fortune/Global 500s and US government/military agencies. He is a former NSA computer scientist and DARPA contractor.

As a former ‘research scientist’ at the National Security Agency, I feel compelled to respond to James Bamford’s exclusive interview with Edward Snowden that appeared in the September issue of Wired magazine. (Unlike Mr. Snowden, I had to get this piece reviewed by the NSA prior to publishing, in order to make sure it doesn’t jeopardize any classified information. )

Many of the factual assertions about the NSA and intelligence community that were included in Bamford’s article, and previous Snowden “disclosures,” are highly questionable from the perspective of someone who’s actually been there.

Here are the top four, although to be fair there were so many it was hard to choose:

1. The Intelligence Community Is Undisciplined And Irresponsible ­

Probably the biggest takeaway from Bamford’s article, and other comments attributed to Snowden, is that the NSA, CIA and other intelligence agencies operate in a Wild West­type environment, where there is little supervision, oversight, and anything goes.

This is an unrealistic portrait. I spent some time on

the front lines at “The Fort,” and there’s a world of bureaucratic hurt, filled out in triplicate, for even minor mistakes that could step over the bounds of the law when handling US information.

It is the very first thing they talk to you about when you join the NSA, and the legality of your collection efforts ­ what you can and can’t do ­ comes up at nearly every meeting thereafter. The law and ethics of signals collection is an intense focus at the NSA, and those who violate it are (at a minimum) quickly stripped of their job responsibilities and security clearance. I always felt that we at the NSA fought with one hand tied behind our back, and, frankly, I was proud of that.

2. Our Spying On China Is Just As Bad As Theirs ­

A man works on a security camera that was installed at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, November 1, 2013. Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters Snowden has also claimed that the US is “crossing the line” with its cyber­espionage against China, targeting not just military and government facilities, but “wholly civilian infrastructure” as well.

First, it’s worth pointing out that Snowden has never once criticized China for its unfettered cyber­espionage tactics against the US private sector (to the tune of $300 billion a year in stolen intellectual property), the US government, Chinese citizens or Chinese political dissidents, including Tibetan, Hong Kong and Uyghur groups.

Chinese cyber­espionage campaigns are notorious for their lack of restraint. Just consider these: Operation Aurora, Night Dragon, Titan Rain, GhostNet, etc. Unlike China, the US and her Five Eyes allies don’t engage in cyber espionage to boost their economies ­ they do it to gather geopolitical intelligence.