Hardware Implant

Definitions

1. A malicious physical modification or added component placed inside hardware to spy, alter behavior, or maintain covert access. Hardware implants are rare but serious because they can survive software reinstalls and may be difficult to detect without specialized inspection.

   In plain English: A hidden malicious component physically placed inside hardware.

   Example: "The investigation considered a hardware implant after repeated unexplained traffic persisted across fresh OS installs."

Related Terms

• Rootkit
• APT
• Dependency Confusion
• SBOM
• SLSA
• Sigstore
• Advanced Persistent Threat
• Fault Injection
• Root of Trust