Node software is compromised, asks the hardware to sign a transaction that sends all funds to the peer. Since the node software always has to directly have a TCP connection with the peer, it is PRECISELY the peer that is in the best position to attack your node software.
How much validation is the hardware doing? If the hardware "signs blindly" (i.e. as of 2026-September, not running VLS, as it is the only signer implementation that actually validates) then it will accept ANY transaction the node software presents it.
In short, it protects not only against your outer service (the one that sends commands to the node software) being compromised, it also protects against your actual node software from being compromised.
Node software is compromised, asks the hardware to sign a transaction that sends all funds to the peer. Since the node software always has to directly have a TCP connection with the peer, it is PRECISELY the peer that is in the best position to attack your node software.
How much validation is the hardware doing? If the hardware "signs blindly" (i.e. as of 2026-September, not running VLS, as it is the only signer implementation that actually validates) then it will accept ANY transaction the node software presents it.
In short, it protects not only against your outer service (the one that sends commands to the node software) being compromised, it also protects against your actual node software from being compromised.