The Sunburst hack was massive and devastating. Here are 5 observations from a cybersecurity expert

So much remains unknown about what is now being called the Sunburst hack, the cyberattack against US government agencies and corporations. US officials widely believe that Russian state-sponsored hackers are responsible.

The attack gave the perpetrators access to numerous key American business and government organisations. The immediate effects will be difficult to judge, and a complete accounting of the damage is unlikely.

However, the nature of the affected organisations alone makes it clear that this is perhaps the most consequential cyberattack against the US to date.

An act of cyberwar is usually not like a bomb, which causes immediate, well-understood damage. Rather, it is more like a cancer — it’s slow to detect, difficult to…