Re: GCHQ motivations
Don't forget that GCHQ has two jobs:
- The one folk tend to think about is spying on world+dog
- The other is stopping world+dog spying on our glorious leaders
Clearly there is a conflict of interests here, as hoarding vulnerability to shaft the other guy could very well lead to your own boys getting done over when their kit is not patched. There is even advice given to gov BOFH to help out on lots of platforms, not just Windows. Though given the number of high-profile breaches we hear of, and no doubt others we (and possibly they) don't know about, one wonders if it is listened to.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/end-user-devices-security-guidance