US intelligence agencies accused Russian hackers of trying to steal vaccine from COVID-19

Britain, the United States and Canada simultaneously announced an attack by a Russian hacker group, probably related to the Kremlin. The object of their assault was the medical laboratories of Western countries, from which they tried to steal the development of a vaccine against COVID-19 - a disease caused by coronavirus infection. Writes about it with the BBC.

Photo: Shutterstock

Three intelligence agencies - the US National Security Agency (NSA), the British National Cyber ​​Security Center and the Canadian Communications Security Agency - published official statements on Thursday, July 16, blaming the hacking attacks on the Cozy Bear group, also known as APT29 and Dukes .

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab condemned what he called the “reckless actions of Russian intelligence”: “We exposed today their cyber attacks on those developing a vaccine for COVID-19. By doing so, they undermine the vital cooperation of the whole world in the fight against the pandemic,” he said.

The NSA believes that Russian hackers have collected data on the development of vaccines. Which scientific institutions were attacked is not specified.

The Kremlin said Russia had nothing to do with the hacking attacks. “We do not accept such accusations, just like the latest unfounded accusations of interference in the 2019 elections,” RIA Novosti quotes Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov as saying.

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The British National Cybersecurity Center (NCSC) said that upon detecting the attack, it immediately shared information with its American and Canadian colleagues. Whether the attackers managed to steal the data is not reported, but the British authorities emphasize that work on the creation of the vaccine has not been disrupted and continues.

The British intelligence service issued recommendations describing how hackers work and how to protect themselves from them.

Paul Chichester, NCSC's head of operations, called the cyberattack in the midst of a global outbreak "despicable" in a statement.

Traces of the "Cozy Bear"

American, British, and Canadian cyber intelligence agents point out that it was this group that spread the WellMess and WellMail viruses.

In 2018, the American company CrowdStrike discovered Cozy Bear traces in hacking the networks of the headquarters of the Democratic Party of the United States.

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At the same time, cybersecurity experts believed that Cozy Bear often “competes” with another Russian hacker group - Fancy Bear, aka APT28, and saw this as a sign of rivalry between the Federal Security Service and the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Federation (formerly the GRU), areas of responsibility which overlap in terms of cyber warfare.

“Cozy Bear” supposedly refers to the FSB, and “Bizarre” to the GRU.

In addition to CrowdStrike, Fidelis Cybersecurity, SecureWorks, ThreatConnect and others also reported on the links of Fancy Bear and Cozy Bear with Russian special services.

Russian authorities have repeatedly denied links to hacker groups. “We do not have information about who could have hacked the resources of pharmaceutical companies and research centers in the UK. We can say one thing: Russia has nothing to do with these attempts,” this is how Vladimir Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov responded to the next round of accusations.

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