Following earlier warnings that malicious cyber actors from states such as China and Russia could try and elicit secure data around coronavirus vaccination testing, reports point to organisations having been targeted.
Multiple nations have come under scrutiny for trying to secure information around COVID-19 vaccination testing. In early May, the National Cyber Security Center warned that Russia, Iran, and China are targeting British universities and research departments in relation to COVID-19.
In the United States, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) also issued a public service announcement confirming the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been targeting COVID-19 research organisations.
John Hultquist, Senior Director of Analysis, Mandiant Threat Intelligence, commented on activity his team has seen in relation to this. He said: “We have identified cyber espionage at several organisations conducting research on COVID-19. Russian, Chinese, and Iranian actors have targeted multiple public and private organisations developing COVID-19 therapies.
“We suspect collecting intelligence on COVID-19 has become the number one priority for intelligence services throughout the world and we expect them to aggressively leverage cyber espionage against the public and private sector.”
If you would like to join our community and read more articles like this then please click here.
Post written by: Matt Brown
RELATED ARTICLES
November 19, 2024
OSINT Technology advances are just what the UKs hard-pressed defence sector needs
Open-source intelligence (OSINT) is now critical to defence and national security, but the sheer volume of available online multi-media data
July 30, 2024
Homeland - Improving cyber resilience of frontline forces in Europe
Enhancing allied cyber defences through multinational Exercise Baltic Mule. Exercise Baltic Mule was a joint UK and Poland led exercise to
