Also on Friday, a UK regulator confirmed that it had received a formal request from the government to assess the prospective Covid-19 vaccine being developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca. Earlier, an executive from the British-Swedish pharma giant said its vaccine could be approved even if its effectiveness is no higher than 60 percent.
North Korean hackers attempted to illegally access AstraZeneca’s computer systems in recent weeks, Reuters has reported, citing two people said to be familiar with the situation.
The hackers purportedly posed as recruiters, and attempted to break into company systems via malicious code hidden in fake job descriptions sent by LinkedIn and WhatsApp to company employees.
The hack attacks, which are thought to have failed, reportedly sought to target a “broad set” of staff, including personnel working on AstraZeneca’s coronavirus-related research.
The sources said the hacking attack’s attribution to North Korea was based on previous descriptions of the tools and techniques which US officials and others have alleged are used by Pyongyang. Three sources cited by the news agency said North Korean hacking activity has recently shifted from targeting media and the military-industrial complex to coronavirus research.
North Korean officials have not commented on the latest hacking claims, but have previously dismissed all allegations against them.
The Covid-related hacking claims follow a bevy of reports in recent months on alleged hacking of Western vaccine research by actors ranging from Russia and China to Iran. All three countries have similarly denied the allegations, and in some cases pointed to the advanced state of their coronavirus preparations in comparison to their Western analogues.
The US, its European allies, South Korea, Israel and others have repeatedly accused North Korea of engaging in a wide-ranging hacking campaign targeting everything from private networks to governments, militaries, financial institutions, the media, entertainment, critical infrastructure and international shipping firms.
North Korean hackers have been accused of responsibility for a mass hack and leak of emails from Sony Pictures in 2014, the theft of tens of millions of dollars from the Central Bank of Bangladesh in 2016, and involvement in the WannaCry 2.0 ransomware attacks in 2017.
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Sourse: sputniknews.com
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