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HEALTH-VIRUS-US-POLITICS
US says China trying to steal COVID-19 vaccine research
WASHINGTON, May 13, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – US authorities warned healthcare and
scientific researchers Wednesday that Chinese-backed hackers were attempting to
steal research and intellectual property related to treatments and vaccines for
COVID-19.
Organizations researching the disease were warned of “likely targeting and
network compromise by the People’s Republic of China,” a statement from the FBI
and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said.
“These actors have been observed attempting to identify and illicitly obtain
valuable intellectual property and public health data related to vaccines,
treatments, and testing from networks and personnel affiliated with COVID-19-
related research,” they said.
“China’s efforts to target these sectors pose a significant threat to our
nations response to COVID-19,” they said.
The two organizations gave no evidence or examples of their allegation against
Beijing.
But they urged “all organizations conducting research in these areas to maintain
dedicated cybersecurity and insider threat practices to prevent surreptitious
review or theft of COVID-19-related material.”
On Monday US media reported that the FBI was poised to release the warning about
vaccine-research hacking.
Asked about the coming report, President Donald Trump replied: “What else is new
with China? What else is new? Tell me. I’m not happy with China.”
“We’re watching it very closely,” he added.
In Beijing on Monday, Foreign Affairs ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian rejected
the allegation, saying China firmly opposes all cyber attacks.
“We are leading the world in COVID-19 treatment and vaccine research. It is
immoral to target China with rumors and slanders in the absence of any evidence,”
Zhao said.
The warning comes as dozens of companies, institutes and countries around the
world are racing to develop vaccines to halt the spread of the coronavirus, which
has killed at least 292,000 worldwide.
Many more groups are researching treatments for infected patients. Currently
there is no proven treatment.
The warning adds to a series of alerts and reports accusing government-backed
hackers in Iran, North Korea, Russia and China of malicious activity related to
the coronavirus pandemic, from pumping out false news to targeting workers and
scientists.
Last week in a joint message Britain and the United States warned of a rise in
cyber attacks against health professionals involved in the coronavirus response by
organised criminals “often linked with other state actors.”
Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre and the US Cybersecurity and
Infrastructure Security Agency said they had detected large-scale “password
spraying” tactics — hackers trying to access accounts through commonly used
passwords — aimed at healthcare bodies and medical research organizations.
Reporting the expected FBI warning on Monday, The New York Times said it could
be a prelude to officially sanctioned counterattacks by US agencies involved in
cyber warfare, including the Pentagon’s Cyber Command and the National Security
Agency.
BSS/AFP/MRU/2210hrs