Hacker News Reader

I think the OP is being metaphorical by saying this hack is like doing that to someone. In this case the big “wealth event” is SolarWinds getting distributed to many high profile government agencies.

They could sell [access to the compromised systems] to the highest bidder, and in that way make instant money?

Just like stocks are traded now, altohugh the payout is in the future.

The idea is to keep a portfolio of stolen identities and sell them off. There’s plenty of ways to cash in early if you’re willing to take a bit less money upfront.