[andyjpb]

Mutually Assured Destruction relies on the victim knowing that they've been destroyed.

Lots of these so-called "Cyber weapons" are operated by actors who are very effective at leaving no trace.

It's been in the background before but in the reports about this SolarWinds issue the "leaves no trace" angle is starting to be emphasised much more.

Not knowing if or what has been compromised means that the attacker can choose when or how to use the information they obtained and the victim will be surprised, even a long time down the line.