Coronavuirus: Chinese and Iranian hack attacks jeopardise hunt for vaccine

Chinese hackers are targeting US researchers in a bid to steal intellectual property related to coronavirus vaccines.

Among Iran’s recent targets, according to researchers, was the pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences. Picture: AFP

Chinese hackers are targeting US universities, pharmaceutical and other healthcare firms in a bid to steal intellectual property related to coronavirus treatments and vaccines and the intrusions may be jeopardising progress on medical research, US officials said in an alert on Thursday.

The alert came as US officials charge that China and Iran since at least January 3 have waged cyberattacks against US firms and institutions working to find a vaccine for COVID-19.

The attacks have raised the prospect among some officials that the efforts could be viewed by the Trump administration as a direct attack on US public health, they said, because the attacks may have hindered vaccine research in some cases.

In the alert, the FBI and the ­Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said Chinese-­affiliated “cyber actors and non-traditional collectors” had been identified attempting to steal intellectual property and public-health data related to research on COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and testing.

The alleged activity posed a significant threat to the US response to the novel coronavirus, the alert said.

“The potential theft of this information jeopardises the delivery of secure, effective and efficient treatment options,” it added.

The alert didn’t identify hacking victims and didn’t explain how officials had arrived at their conclusion of Beijing’s responsibility in coronavirus-related espionage against the US. It didn’t mention Iran, either, but administration officials also have cited intelligence that they said suggests Tehran or its proxies have been targeting some of the same types of facilities.

The administration officials said one technique Iran had favoured was password spraying, a relatively unsophisticated hacking technique that tries to compromise an organisation by rapidly guessing common account-login passwords.

Among Iran’s recent targets, according to researchers, was the pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, which has produced the antiviral drug remdesivir that was recently given emergency-use authorisation by the US Food and Drug Administration as a potential COVID-19 treatment.

Administration officials said China was the primary adversary conducting cyberattacks amid the coronavirus outbreak, with its ­attacks more widespread and ­frequent.

The attacks themselves have had been disruptive, undermining the efforts of US research institutions and firms to find a vaccine. Officials likened such attacks to a burglar who by cleaning his own fingerprints causes inadvertent damage to the home.

They said even an errant keystroke by a hacker targeting such healthcare facilities could irreversibly harm efforts to find a vaccine.

“It is difficult, and sometimes impossible, to know what motivates such malfeasance, but any such activity carries with it the risk of triggering accidental, disruptive effects,” a senior administration official said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said earlier this week that China opposed ­cyberattacks of all forms and was leading in the research for a COVID-19 vaccine and treatment.

Research institutions have long been of interest to Chinese state-sponsored hackers intent on pilfering biomedical advances and gaining access to classified defence projects.

They are widely viewed as weak points for hackers to target, in part because of the collaborative nature of their work.

The Wall Street Journal