Weird phrasing for starters. I mean that isn't how one would describe malware or a rootkit. I can't imagine hardware would be worth the effort if you can just as easily compromise the OS with physical access.
I just don't know what to make of this guys story. He has no high school diploma, started out as a security guard and was then given a diplomat cover as a system administrator?
He further claims that his job as a systems administrator gave him access to NSA analyst intercept software which I find difficult to believe. I can't imagine use of the software isn't physically locked to a machine in a secure environment. You wouldn't expect a systems administrator to have access to everything, which he claims he had, everything is compartmentalized.
But unlike a rootkit, some HW listening device is resistant to OS reinstalls which I can imagine are pretty common with people that the NSA would target. And I can also imagine that it might be more 'cross-platform'.
whereas you might be understanding bug as in: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_bug