North Korean and Russian hackers are allegedly targeting global pharmaceutical companies and COVID-19 vaccine researchers, Microsoft's security chief Tom Burt said in a statement on Friday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th November, 2020) North Korean and Russian hackers are allegedly targeting global pharmaceutical companies and COVID-19 vaccine researchers, Microsoft's security chief Tom Burt said in a statement on Friday.
"In recent months, we've detected cyberattacks from three nation-state actors targeting seven prominent companies directly involved in researching vaccines and treatments for Covid-19 ...� the attacks came from Strontium, an actor originating from Russia, and two actors originating from North Korea that we call Zinc and Cerium," Burt said.
The cyberattacks have allegedly targeted research in various stages of clinical trials being conducted in Canada, France, India, South Korea and the United States, Burt added.
The cybercriminals used a variety of methods, including password spraying, brute force login attempts and phishing to steal login credentials, according to the microsoft official.
The company is calling for malicious activity to stop and is urging governments to take action.
In July, several Western nations accused Russia of standing behind hacker attacks they said were intended to steal information on vaccine development efforts. Moscow refuted the allegations, which were never substantiated.
Russia's Gamaleya Research Center head Alexander Gintsburg last month said that the center was subjected to hacker attacks some months back when it was developing the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, but refrained from judging their purpose.
