www.nairaland.com/attachments/11941533_1_jpeg_jpegb14275b5f78bece688542a179cd8bd1b

Britain, the United States and Canada accused Russian hackers on Thursday of trying to steal information from researchers seeking a coronavirus vaccine, warning scientists and pharmaceutical companies to be alert for suspicious activity.

Intelligence agencies in the three nations alleged that the hacking group APT29, also known as Cozy Bear and said to be part of the Russian intelligence services, is attacking academic and pharmaceutical research institutions involved in COVID-19 vaccine development.

“It is completely unacceptable that the Russian Intelligence Services are targeting those working to combat the coronavirus pandemic,″ British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement, accusing Moscow of pursuing “selfish interests with reckless behavior.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, rejected the British accusations, saying: “We don’t have information about who may have hacked pharmaceutical companies and research centers in Britain.”

“We may say one thing: Russia has nothing to do with those attempts,” Peskov said, according to the state news agency Tass.

The persistent and ongoing attacks are seen by intelligence officials as an effort to steal intellectual property, rather than to disrupt research. The campaign of “malicious activity″ is ongoing and includes attacks “predominantly against government, diplomatic, think tank, health care and energy targets,″ Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre said in a statement.

Britain’s NCSC said its assessment was shared by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency and the National Security Agency, and by the Canadian Communication Security Establishment. The move at a coordinated position seemed designed to add heft and gravity to the announcement — hopefully prompting the targets of the hackers to take protective action.

It was unclear whether any information actually was stolen, but the U.K. says individuals’ confidential information is not believed to have been compromised.

The U.K. statement did not say whether Putin knew about the vaccine research hacking, but British officials believe such intelligence would be highly prized.

A 16-page advisory prepared by Western agencies accuses Cozy Bear of using custom malicious software to target a number of organizations globally. The malware, called WellMess and WellMail, has not previously been associated with the hacking group, the advisory said.

“In recent attacks targeting COVID-19 vaccine research and development, the group conducted basic vulnerability scanning against specific external IP addresses owned by the organizations. The group then deployed public exploits against the vulnerable services identified,” the advisory said.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity agency warned in April that cybercriminals and other groups were targeting COVID-19 research, noting at the time that the increase in people teleworking because of the pandemic had created potential avenues for hackers to exploit.

The global reach and international supply chains of these organizations also make them vulnerable, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in an alert published in conjunction with its counterparts in Britain.

CISA said it and the British cyberseucity agency have detected the threat groups scanning the external websites of targeted companies and looking for vulnerabilities in unpatched software. It did not identify any of the targeted companies.

U.S. authorities have for months leveled similar accusations against China. FBI Director Chris Wray said last week, “At this very moment, China is working to compromise American health care organizations, pharmaceutical companies, and academic institutions conducting essential COVID-19 research.”

Mike Chapple, an information technology expert at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, said the Russian hackers realized that knowledge is power when it comes to COVID-19.

“I think the biggest takeaway from these attacks is that other countries are actively targeting the health research industry and we’re seeing the pharmaceutical companies and others being targeted because they have the information that can be used to help alleviate this global pandemic,″ he said. “It’s reasonable to conclude that the coronavirus is the No. 1 priority of every intelligence agency around the world right now.″

Source: https://apnews.com/47797e89ddb470b3244fae3a799481c5

Russia has suffered

Is Russia now abi...

Damnnnnn niggarrr
Wetin America, UK and Canada dey feel like self

Overrated fuckkers....
Sometimes i keep on telling my niggarzz those America and London ain't got nothing to offer...they think the world revolves round thier fuckkking asss
You want to travel out for education or rather seek for knowledge and make some dope money
Then i recommend Asia and those Arab nations anyday anytime twice on Thursday

We told you this thing is a business
They have thier patents and all to protect.
But they'll pretend so idiots can think they have the people's best interest at heart.

Russia is a troll though. But expect Dangote monopoly soon over the vaccine. Sole distributor in Nigeria.

Okay.

The world is full of politics.

Abeg this people should stop this unnecessary power tussle and give us a vaccine

Can anything come clean out of russia?
Russia is an evil, China is the devil.
Iran's a wicked spell, NKorea's surely hell.

Wish Russia and China could work together and develop spacestaions large enough to host their countries, migrate to space and rent some for Iran and Nkorea so we can all have peace of mind on earth.
And of course, let's not forget that they take all liberals, deep state and democrats along. Problem solved.

Hack or no hack

The interest should be finding a cure

lol.
my own be say make dem get the cure wether hacked or unhacked..

meanwhile Na d same way US and other European countries take dey steal our herbs dey package am into expensive drugs.

nonsense thieves.
covid go kee una finish.
shebi una think say Na we for African go die pass, God don vindicate us.
zero distancing yet we dey survive and Yahoo Yahoo NCDC dey declare their Yahoo result.

Slawormir:
Damnnnnn niggarrr
Isoright

This niggar

Russia's again

Hmmn.

Where they planning to monetize it? Does it matter from whence the vaccines emerge. Demonic capitalistic animals

So COVID19 will trigger WW-3? So about China where it started from? Abeg make una let the world rest from this pandemic

Hmmm

Fight go soon break out. China, Russia, North Korea, Iran etc against the West

Uhmm, that’s quite racist to accuse another country of such

Since you have the solution and you don't want to release it...
You guys should stop toying with people life.

Get online billboard for your business and get seen
fast and guarantee chat up

Russia will obviously deny it, as expected.

This Corona Has Causes A Lot Of Confusion Esp With Their Preventive Measures... I Watched A Nigerian Movie Yesterday I Saw A Ghost Wearing Face Mask.. Even Me I Was Confused. U Pple Shld Stop Posting Dis, U Re Causing Alot Of Confusion

Well I don't believe this.... I feel It's just a propaganda... to demean Russia's progress of their own vaccine...

guys can yall just work together for the greater good

These powerful countries and hypocrisy are like bread and butter