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Russian hackers who are “almost certainly working for the country’s intelligence services have targeted coronavirus research facilities in the US, UK and Canada, according to information released by the UK government.
UK security officials told journalists on Thursday that the group, known as APT29, or “Cozy Bearwere launching “persistent, highly targeted and ongoingcyber-attacks on organisations involved in development for a coronavirus vaccine as part of a “maliciousattempt to steal their research.
They are said to have been making the hacking attempts since the start of the pandemic in February.
“We condemn these despicable attacks against those doing vital work to combat the coronavirus pandemic,the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre’s Director of Operations, Paul Chichester, 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.
A UK government spokesperson said that known targets of APT29 include UK, US and Canadian vaccine research and development organisations.
They said that the group uses techniques, including spear-phishing and custom malware known as “WellMessand “WellMail”.
The group of hackers is called APT29, often referred to as Cozy Bear, which Dutch intelligence services say is led by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service.