U.S. to Accuse China of Trying to Hack Vaccine Data, as Virus Redirects Cyberattacks

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/10/us/politics/coronavirus-china-cyber-hacking.html

By David E. Sanger and Nicole Perlroth
NYTimes.com
May 10, 2020

WASHINGTON -- The F.B.I. and the Department of Homeland Security are 
preparing to issue a warning that China’s most skilled hackers and spies 
are working to steal American research in the crash effort to develop 
vaccines and treatments for the coronavirus. The efforts are part of a 
surge in cybertheft and attacks by nations seeking advantage in the 
pandemic.

The warning comes as Israeli officials accuse Iran of mounting an effort in 
late April to cripple water supplies as Israelis were confined to their houses, 
though the government has offered no evidence to back its claim. More than a 
dozen countries have redeployed military and intelligence hackers to glean 
whatever they can about other nations’ virus responses. Even American allies 
like South Korea and nations that do not typically stand out for their 
cyberabilities, like Vietnam, have suddenly redirected their state-run hackers 
to focus on virus-related information, according to private security firms.

A draft of the forthcoming public warning, which officials say is likely to be 
issued in the days to come, says China is seeking “valuable intellectual 
property and public health data through illicit means related to vaccines, 
treatments and testing.” It focuses on cybertheft and action by “nontraditional 
actors,” a euphemism for researchers and students the Trump administration says 
are being activated to steal data from inside academic and private 
laboratories.

[...]

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