Amid Russian claims that it has successfully completed clinical trials of a COVID-19 vaccine, UK cyber-security agency said on Thursday that a hacking group linked to Moscow's intelligence services is trying to steal coronavirus vaccine research.
A joint statement by Britain, the United States and Canada said that hacking group APT29 is targeting target organisations involved in COVID-19 vaccine development.
Britain's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said that APT29, also named “the Dukes” or “Cozy Bear” almost certainly operate as part of Russian intelligence services. The assessment is also supported by partners at the Canadian Communication Security Establishment (CSE), the US Department for Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Security Agency (NSA), the agency said.
"APT29’s campaign of malicious activity is ongoing, predominantly against government, diplomatic, think-tank, healthcare and energy targets to steal valuable intellectual property," an agency statement said,
“We condemn these despicable attacks against those doing vital work to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Working with our allies, the NCSC is committed to protecting our most critical assets and our top priority at this time is to protect the health sector. We would urge organisations to familiarise themselves with the advice we have published to help defend their networks," NCSC Director of Operations, Paul Chichester, said
The NCSC had previously warned that APT groups have been targeting organisations involved in both national and international COVID-19 responses.
Known targets of APT29 include UK, US and Canadian vaccine research and development organisations, it said, adding that the group uses a variety of tools and techniques, including spear-phishing and custom malware known as “WellMess” and “WellMail”.
The statement did not clarify whether any information related to vaccine development of stolen. It is also not clear whether Russian President Vladimir Putin knew about the vaccine research hacking.
Earlier last week, Russia`s Sechenov University announced that it had successfully completed clinical trials of a COVID-19 vaccine, developed by Russia's Defense Ministry's Gamalei Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology.
Alexander Lukashev, the director of Sechenov`s Institute of Medical Parasitology, Tropical and Vector-Borne Diseases, told a local publication that the trials had established the vaccine's safety on human health.
This was first stage of three phases of trials. According to the virologist, a biological preparation has to go a long way with several phases of trials before it can begin industrially produced as a ready vaccine in quantities enough to cater for an entire population.