Hacking not hacking it?

I just acquired the hacking specialty and tried it out and must say I am really disappointed. I had three runners and a hunter in front of a bunker. I was above then on a cliff looking down on them. I decided to try hacking a runner. When I did I saw a little electrical activity on the runner but, nothing happened. I waited for the hacking timer to wind down and tried again, same animation but no change in their behavior. I tried a third time on a runner, supposed to have an 80% chance to hack them and again nothing changed in their actions. So, I tried the hunter, 50% probability, again an electrical animation but no change in behavior. What’s up?
Very pleased with the actions of captured ticks. They react instantly and do what you want. Latch onto something and blow up.
Playing solo on a PS4.
None of the runners or hunter were alerted to my presence. Just going about their business waiting for something to kill.