In contrast, the civilians working next door at the NSA spent years developing tools, learning the insides of Russian or North Korean or Iranian networks, and implanting their malware. Often they treated these “implants” like prized bonsais, to be watered, nurtured, and cared for. The culture of the NSA was far more risk-averse, and to them, Cyber Command offensive units were mostly interested in blowing things up, which exposed and rendered useless the implants the NSA had so carefully hidden.
