A joint statement by Britain, the United States and Canada said that hacking group APT29 is targeting target organisations involved in COVID-19 vaccine development.

Amid Russian claims that it has successfully completed clinical trials of a COVID-19 vaccine, UK cyber-security agency said on Thursday that a hacking group linked to Moscow’s intelligence services is trying to steal coronavirus vaccine research.

A joint statement by Britain, the United States and Canada said that hacking group APT29 is targeting target organisations involved in COVID-19 vaccine development.

Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said that APT29, also named “the Dukes” or “Cozy Bear” almost certainly operate as part of Russian intelligence services. The assessment is also supported by partners at the Canadian Communication Security Establishment (CSE), the US Department for Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Security Agency (NSA), the agency said.
“APT29’s campaign of malicious activity is ongoing, predominantly against government, diplomatic, think-tank, healthcare and energy targets to steal valuable intellectual property,” an agency statement 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. We would urge organisations to familiarise themselves with the advice we have published to help defend their networks,” NCSC Director of Operations, Paul Chichester, said

The NCSC had previously warned that APT groups have been targeting organisations involved in both national and international COVID-19 responses.

  Britain, Canada, coronavirus, Covid-19, COVID-19 vaccine, Hacker Group, hacking, Russia, UK, US