Collecting data, and further, processing that collected data, is fundamentally different than executing a difficult, targeted attack.
State level actors have massive amounts of resources, which makes them uniquely situated to perform difficult tasks like cracking encryption keys or developing insanely complex exploits.
So - the particular competence people give state actors generally has to do with that level of resources, while the same state actors are accurately attributed the incompetence that comes with large bureaucracies.
Collecting data, and further, processing that collected data, is fundamentally different than executing a difficult, targeted attack.
State level actors have massive amounts of resources, which makes them uniquely situated to perform difficult tasks like cracking encryption keys or developing insanely complex exploits.
So - the particular competence people give state actors generally has to do with that level of resources, while the same state actors are accurately attributed the incompetence that comes with large bureaucracies.