The serial console blinked back to life.
This was the kill switch. On the next boot, the firmware would refuse to hand control to any SDT loader that didn't match a cryptographic challenge. But doing it now, while the system was live, would cause the current loader to panic. sdt loader
Aris watched as a clean, signed executable— update_service.exe —was launched by the system itself. It carried a valid Microsoft certificate. The kernel saw it as trusted. But because the SDT had been loaded with false descriptors, every system call that executable made was being rerouted through the attacker’s shims. The serial console blinked back to life
“They’ve taken the keys to the kingdom,” Aris said into his comms. “Shut down the northbound API gateways. Now.” while the system was live