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Suspected North Korean hackers have attempted to break into the systems of British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca as it rushes to develop a Covid-19 vaccine.
Hackers posed as recruiters on the LinkedIn and WhatsApp networking site to approach AstraZeneca staff with bogus job offers in recent weeks, two sources said.
They then sent documents purporting to be job descriptions that were laced with malicious code designed to gain access to the victim’s computer.
The hacking attempts targeted a “broad set of people,” including staff working on the Covid-19 investigation, one of the sources said, but they are not believed to have been successful.
Microsoft said this month that it had seen two North Korean hacking groups targeting vaccine developers in various countries.
(Image: via REUTERS)
South Korean lawmakers said on Friday that the country’s intelligence agency had thwarted some of those attempts.
The North Korean mission to the United Nations in Geneva did not respond to a request for comment.
Pyongyang has previously denied any cyberattacks.
It does not have a direct line of contact with foreign media.
(Image: REUTERS)
Video not available
AstraZeneca, which has become one of the top three developers of Covid-19 vaccines, declined to comment. It is developing its vaccine with the University of Oxford.
The sources, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity to discuss non-public information, said that the tools and techniques used in the attacks showed they were part of an ongoing hacking campaign that US officials and cybersecurity researchers have attributed to North Korea.
The campaign had previously targeted defense companies and media organizations, but focused on Covid-related targets in recent weeks, according to three people who have investigated the attacks.
Cyberattacks against healthcare agencies, vaccine scientists, and drug manufacturers have exploded during the Covid-19 pandemic as state-backed criminal hacking groups scramble to obtain the latest research and information on the outbreak.
Western officials say any stolen information could be sold for profit, used to extort money from victims, or give foreign governments a valuable strategic advantage in their fight to contain a disease that has killed 1.4 million people worldwide. the world.
Microsoft said this month that it had seen two groups of North Korean hackers target vaccine developers in various countries, including by “sending messages with fabricated job descriptions.”
Microsoft did not name any of the target organizations.
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South Korean lawmakers said the country’s intelligence agency had thwarted some of those attempts.
Ha Tae-keung, a member of the parliamentary intelligence committee, said after being briefed by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) that the agency did not specify how many and which drug manufacturers were targeted, but said there was no damage from the attempts to target. piracy.
Closed-door briefings from the NIS, which shares intelligence and analysis with counterparts among key neighbors, provide rare public access to information about the lonely North.
Ha and another member, Kim Byung-kee, said that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had taken some “unreasonable” actions due to the “paranoia” of Covid-19.
Reuters has previously reported that hackers from Iran, China and Russia have tried to break into major drug companies and even the World Health Organization this year.
Tehran, Beijing and Moscow have denied the allegations.
Some of the accounts used in the AstraZeneca attacks were logged to Russian email addresses, one of the sources said, in a possible attempt to mislead investigators.
US prosecutors have blamed North Korea for some of the world’s most audacious and damaging cyberattacks, including the 2014 hacking and leaking of Sony Pictures emails, the 2016 theft of $ 81 million from the Central Bank of Bangladesh. and the release of the Wannacry ransomware. virus in 2017.
Pyongyang has described the accusations as part of Washington’s attempts to tarnish its image.
Meanwhile, Downing Street said there were “no plans” to print the Union flag on the Oxford University and AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, following reports that Number 10’s “Union Unit” had called for that the British flag appeared on the packaging.
The prime minister’s official spokesman told reporters: “There are no plans for the Union Jack to be dosed.
“We have said previously that manufacturing of some of the major potential vaccines is already underway, so they can be rolled out quickly if approved.
“Manufacturers are well aware of the best ways to package products like this.”
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Britain gave AstraZeneca’s vaccine a vote of confidence on Friday when it asked its regulator to evaluate the injection for implementation after experts raised questions about the trial data and the company said it could conduct another study. to measure effectiveness.
The UK government has secured 100 million doses of the vaccine, the most it has ordered of any vaccine to fight a pandemic that has killed more than 1.4 million people worldwide.
The British drugmaker expects four million doses to be available in the country by the end of next month, and Health Secretary Matt Hancock expects the rollout to begin before Christmas.
“We have formally asked the regulator to evaluate the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine, understand the data and determine if it meets rigorous safety standards,” Hancock said.
(Image: John Cairns / University of Oxford / PA Wire)
“This letter is an important step toward deploying a vaccine as quickly and safely as possible.”
Britain’s Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) launched an accelerated “rolling review” of the vaccine earlier this month as data on safety and efficacy arrive.
In the global race to develop coronavirus vaccines, the AstraZeneca candidate is considered to offer one of the best hopes for many developing countries due to its cheaper price and its ability to be transported at normal refrigerator temperatures.
The announcements came after some scientists raised doubts about the robustness of the results showing that the injection was 90% effective in a subset of trial participants who mistakenly initially received a half dose followed by a full dose.
AstraZeneca had released data from the trial on Monday showing that its experimental vaccine prevented on average 70% of Covid-19 cases in late-stage trials in Britain and Brazil.
While the success rate was 90% in the subgroup, some experts said that the relatively small number of participants made it difficult to trust the findings.
AstraZeneca said the administration of half the dose had been reviewed and approved by independent data safety monitors and the UK regulator, adding that the regulator publicly confirmed that “there were no concerns”.
The 62% success rate when the full dose was given twice, as was the case for most participants, is still above the 50% required by US regulators.
The European drug regulator has said it will not set a minimum level of efficacy.
If a vaccine is 50% effective, it means that if 100 people who have not been exposed to the virus are immunized with it, on average, 50 of them would not become infected.
However, CEO Pascal Soriot said Thursday that the drugmaker is likely to conduct an additional global test to assess the efficacy of its vaccine at the lowest dose.
A spokesman for the University of Oxford said that additional data from international trials would help researchers assess the vaccine’s efficacy among a more diverse population.
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