The U.S. government is contributing to the Internet's underground economy by scooping up hacker tools to incorporate into offensive cyber weapons, a report from Reuters says.

The feds have become the biggest buyer in a growing gray market where hackers and defense contractors sell tools to compromise computers, the report said.

A major concern about the government's actions is that it's using what it buys for offensive weapons at the expense of not only the country's cyber defenses but the private sector's as well.

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