The implants scared the hell out of American defense officials—but they were determined not to show it. In their most benign mode, the implants are useful for surveillance—broadcasting back to their home base news about what is happening inside a network. But what makes cyber threats different is that the same implant that is used for surveillance can be repurposed as a weapon. All it requires is the injection of new code. So on one day, the implant may be sending back blueprints of the electric grid. The next day it can be used to fry that grid. Or wipe out data. Or allow someone in a remote
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