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The European Medicines Agency, the regulatory body of the European Union (EU), revealed that documents of the vaccine against the new coronavirus stolen and placed on the Internet by hackers were also “manipulated”.
This manipulation came after hackers obtained documents and emails related to the evaluation of experimental vaccines, with confidential data related to the covid-19 pandemic, in November, specified the agency based in Amsterdam, one of the capitals. from the Netherlands, citing an ongoing investigation.
“Part of the correspondence was manipulated by the perpetrators [do roubo] in a way that could undermine confidence in vaccines. We saw that part of the correspondence was not published in its entirety and in its original form or with comments and additions from the perpetrators, ”said the entity.
The European Medicines Agency did not reveal the information that was changed, but cybersecurity authorities believe that the actions taken by hackers are part of disinformation campaigns launched by governments.
Italian cybersecurity company Yarix said it found 33 megabytes of information accessed by hackers on a clandestine forum, with a headline critical of the effect of vaccines and one of its makers, Pfizer, before spreading to other websites. Internet, that is, through the ‘dark web’.
For Yarix, the intention behind the leak is “to cause significant damage to the reputation and credibility of the European drug regulator and Pfizer.”
Cybersecurity consultant Lukasz Olejnik said the acts of hackers have “significant potential” to “sow suspicion in the process of the European Medicines Agency, in vaccines and vaccination in general.”
“Although it is not clear who may be behind the operation, it is clear that there were resources assigned to it,” he said.
The organization also said that police are already taking “necessary steps” to respond to the leak and that a criminal investigation is underway.
The European Medicines Agency came under heavy criticism from Germany and other EU member countries in December for failing to approve vaccines against the virus more quickly.
The EU regulator issued the first recommendation for the vaccine manufactured by Pfizer and BioNTech weeks after the injection was approved in the United Kingdom, where the first application occurred globally, on December 8, and in countries such as the United States. States and Canada.
Despite the “urgent need to make vaccines available to EU citizens as soon as possible”, the Agency
The European Medicines Committee argued that the approval of the vaccine was legitimized by “the strength of scientific evidence on its safety, quality and efficacy.”
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