Russian Hackers Accused of Trying to Steal Covid-19 Vaccine Research

The U.K., U.S. and Canada accuse Russian hackers of stealing information from researchers seeking a coronavirus vaccine. Intelligence agencies in the three nations alleged that the hacking group APT29, also known as Cozy Bear and said to be part of the Russian intelligence service, is attacking academic and pharmaceutical research institutions involved in Covid-19 vaccine development.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mike Chapple, who is Teaching Professor of Information Technology at University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, said that “from the analysis the intelligence community did in this report, it’s pretty clear that the signatures of this attack, are similar to attacks waged by Cozy Bear in the past”.

The persistent and ongoing attacks are seen by intelligence officials as an effort to steal intellectual property, rather than to disrupt research.

The campaign of “malicious activity” is ongoing and includes attacks “predominantly against government, diplomatic, think tank, health care and energy targets’,’ Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said in a statement.

Britain’s NCSC said its assessment was shared by the US Department of Homeland Security, the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency and the National Security Agency, and by the Canadian Communication Security Establishment.

It was unclear whether any information actually was stolen, but the UK says individuals’ confidential information is not believed to have been compromised.

The U.K. statement did not say whether Russian President Vladimir Putin knew about the vaccine research hacking, but British officials believe such intelligence would be highly prized.

A 16-page advisory prepared by Western agencies accuses Cozy Bear of using custom malicious software to target a number of organizations globally.

The malware, called WellMess and WellMail, has not previously been associated with the hacking group, the advisory said.

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