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The ODNI gave a more mundane explanation for the patch design in an internal magazine, stating that it originated from an engineering in-joke regarding a piece of cabling called an "octopus harness" that caused problems during testing for the satellite, leading the engineering team to joke that "the octopus harness had taken over the world."
To be fair, they blamed it on the administration. DNI is the administration.
But like, if you're DNI, of course you're going to announce a patch like this. I can't imagine being in that role without a part of you enjoying trolling the conspiracy theorists and other humourless types.
Your taking the joke seriously is the entire joke. Sort of like people getting into conniptions over the name DOGE. That's the point of naming it DOGE: to prompt that reaction.
They always say the next generation, being more 'digitally native', will be amazing with computers. That hasn't been my experience. But if what you say is true, they are going to be great at counterintelligence.