Here are five points that cybersecurity experts – the oncologists in the cancer analogy – can make with what’s known so far.įrom top-tier cybersecurity firm FireEye to the U.S. Rather, it is more like a cancer – it’s slow to detect, difficult to eradicate, and it causes ongoing and significant damage over a long period of time. to date.Īn act of cyberwar is usually not like a bomb, which causes immediate, well-understood damage. However, the nature of the affected organizations alone makes it clear that this is perhaps the most consequential cyberattack against the U.S. The immediate effects will be difficult to judge, and a complete accounting of the damage is unlikely. The attack gave the perpetrators access to numerous key American business and government organizations. officials widely believe that Russian state-sponsored hackers are responsible. So much remains unknown about what is now being called the Sunburst hack, the cyberattack against U.S. Tasos Katopodis/Getty ImagesĬourtesy of Paulo Shakarian, Arizona State University The Sunburst hack was massive and devastating – 5 observations from a cybersecurity expertįederal government agencies, from the Treasury Department to the National Nuclear Security Administration, have been compromised by the attack.