> Where are they getting these world class hackers from if this is the case?

The New Yorker ran a piece on this recently-ish[1]:

  The most promising students are encouraged to use computers at schools. Those who excel at mathematics are placed at specialized high schools. The best students can travel abroad, to compete in such events as the International Mathematical Olympiad. Many winners of the Fields Medal, the celebrated prize in mathematics, placed highly in the contest when they were teen-agers.

They cultivate their math talent, and after graduation they offer them jobs in cyber espionage that beat their alternatives by a wide margin.

[1] https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/04/26/the-incredible...