Lazarus hacking group has attacked a health ministry and a pharmaceutical company engaged in coronavirus vaccine development in an Asian country, Russian IT security company Kaspersky Lab said on Monday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th December, 2020) Lazarus hacking group has attacked a health ministry and a pharmaceutical company engaged in coronavirus vaccine development in an Asian country, Russian IT security company Kaspersky Lab said on Monday.
"Two Windows servers of a government agency were compromised on October 27 using sophisticated malware known to Kaspersky Lab as wAgent. The attack was carried out according to the same scheme that was previously used by the Lazarus group to penetrate the networks of cryptocurrency companies," the statement said.
Kaspersky Lab experts believe that the attack on the vaccine manufacturer started on September 25 and was carried out using the Bookcode malware. Both types of malware allow attackers to gain control over infected devices. Kaspersky Lab says it continues to investigate circumstances of the attacks.
According to the company, these two incidents demonstrate that Lazarus is collecting data related to COVID-19, although the group is primarily known for its financial interests. Kaspersky Lab also urged all companies engaged in vaccine development to be as prepared as possible to repel cyberattacks.
