That’s just stupid.
What possible reason would the NSA have for connecting to Utah’s computer network? The states are pretty notorious for neglecting cyber security.
Not to mention what would be the added value for connecting to an individual states computer network?
That's what I was thinking. For that matter, what does geographic proximity have to do with breaking into NSA? It's not like a bank heist in a movie where the burglars tunnel into the vault from the pizza parlor next-door to the bank.