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I'm not a virologist, but it hardly looks very difficult to me. I contend that the only reason it hasn't been done yet is that humans are (generally) not omnicidal.
You're not restricted to plain GOF by serial passage, you can directly splice in genes that contribute to an extended quiescent phase, and while I'm not personally aware of research along those lines, I see no real fundamental difficulties for a moderately determined adversary.
On the other hand, increasing lethality and virulence are old hat, any grad student can pull that off if they have the money for it.
Is your contention that more than one in a few tens of millions of people at most is strategically omnicidal ("strategically onmicidal" meaning "omnicidal and willing to make long-term plans and execute them consistently for years about it")?
I think the world would look quite different if there were a significant number of people strategically trying to do harm (as opposed to doing so on an impulse).
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Honestly? Yes, albeit with the caveat that a truly existentially dangerous pathogens require stringent safety standards that need more than a single person's capabilities.
If someone without said resources tries it, in all likelihood they'll end up killing themselves, or simply cause a leak before the product is fully cooked. We're talking BSL-4 levels at a minimum if you want a finished product.
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