LONDON (AP) – Russian government-backed hackers seek to borrow data from pharmaceutical researchers and corporations in the race to locate a COVID-19 vaccine, Britain, the United States and Canada alleged Thursday.
The British National Cybersecurity Center said the hackers were “almost certainly” connected to Russian intelligence services. Britain made the announcement in coordination with the US and Canadian authorities.
The 3 countries alleged that the piracy organization APT29, also known as Cozy Bear, is attacking educational and pharmaceutical research establishments concerned about the progression of coronavirus vaccines. The announcement specifies which establishments and corporations have been attacked or whether vaccine data has been stolen.
“It is absolutely unacceptable for Russian intelligence to target those running to combat the coronavirus pandemic,” Dominic Raab, the British foreign minister, said in a statement. “While others pursue their self-centered interests with reckless behavior, the UK and its allies are making progress in the difficult task of locating a vaccine and protecting global health.”
The National Cyber Security Center said it had detected an extended crusade of “malicious activity” through Russian-backed hackers, including attacks “mainly opposed to government, diplomatic, tank, fitness and power targets.”
The National Cybersecurity Center did not say whether Russian President Vladimir Putin was aware of the piracy of vaccine research.
Russia has denied any responsibility.
“We don’t have data on other people who might have hacked pharmaceutical corporations and think centers. We can say one thing: Russia has nothing to do with such attempts,” said Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, according to the Russian President. Tass News Agency.
Matthew Schmidt, a political scientist at new Haven University, said studies on pirated vaccines are a “statement of the weakness of Putin’s 20-year government of Russian science.”
Cozy Bear, also known as “Dukes,” was known in Washington as one of two computer hacker teams connected to the Russian government that broke into the Democratic National Committee’s computer network and stole emails before the 2016 presidential election. The other organization is called Fancy Bear.
“All that remains is whether Donald Trump will condemn this new aggression of Putin’s Russia, and if not, why?” said Representative Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Chairman of the Standing Committee on Intelligence of the House.
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A 16-page report published Thursday across Britain, the United States and Canada accuses Cozy Bear of traditional malware to target various organizations around the world. The malware, called WellMess and WellMail, has not been related in the past to the hacking group, the discovery said.
“In recent attacks on the studies and progression of COVID-19 vaccines, the organization conducted a fundamental vulnerability study that opposes expressing external IP addresses belonging to organizations. The organization then deployed opposing public exploits to known vulnerable services,” the account said.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity firm warned in April that cybercriminals and other teams were investigating COVID-19, noting at the time that the increase in telework due to the pandemic had created possible pathways for hackers.
Vulnerable targets come with health care agencies, pharmaceutical companies, universities, medical study organizations and local governments, security officials said.
The global success and foreign source chains of these organizations also make them vulnerable, the U.S. Agency for Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security said in an alert issued in collaboration with their British counterparts.
The U.S. government has been launching opposite tariffs on China for months.
Speaking Thursday in Michigan, Attorney General William Barr said that “hackers connected to China have attacked American universities and corporations with the goal of stealing (intellectual property) similar to coronavirus remedies and vaccines, altering the paintings of our researchers… Beijing. desperately looking for a blow in public relations and can expect to claim the merit of any medical advances.”
Barr also said that U.S. companies, especially medical providers, have relied incredibly on China for face masks, medical gowns and other medical devices and that the COVID-19 pandemic has “highlighted this dependence.”
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Contributor: Kevin Johnson