State-backed hackers targeting coronavirus responders, U.S. and UK warn

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-cyber/state-backed-hackers-targeting-coronavirus-responders-u-s-and-uk-warn-idUSKBN22H1UG

By Jack Stubbs, Christopher Bing
Reuters.com
May 5, 2020

LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Government-backed hackers are attacking 
healthcare and research institutions in an effort to steal valuable information 
about efforts to contain the new coronavirus outbreak, Britain and the United 
States said on Tuesday in a joint warning.

In a statement, Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the U.S. 
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said the hackers had 
targeted pharmaceutical companies, research organisations and local 
governments.

The NCSC and CISA did not say which countries were responsible for the attacks. 
But one U.S. official and one UK official said the warning was in response to 
intrusion attempts by suspected Chinese and Iranian hackers, as well as some 
Russian-linked activity.

The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss non-public details 
of the alert. Tehran, Beijing and Moscow have all repeatedly denied conducting 
offensive cyber operations and say they are the victims of such attacks 
themselves.

[...]

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