By Ashley Young-
Russia tried to steal information and intellectual property from researchers working on a COVID-19 vaccine, cyber security agencies in Canada, allegations from the United States, and the United Kingdom are alleging.
The major national security and intelligence threat was identified by the three countries as the result of “Russian cyber threat activity” directed at organisations conducting research into the development of COVID-19 vaccines and treatment.
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“These malicious cyber activities were very likely undertaken to steal information and intellectual property relating to the development and testing of COVID-19 vaccines, and serve to hinder response efforts at a time when healthcare experts and medical researchers need every available resource to help fight the pandemic,” said the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) in a statement.
In a technical advisory released Thursday, the agencies spell out how the Russian actors used malware known as “WellMess” and “WellMail” to target global organisations by scanning computer IP addresses for potential vulnerabilities to access information like login credentials.
“This broad targeting potentially gives the group access to a large number of systems globally, many of which are unlikely to be of immediate intelligence value. The group may maintain a store of stolen credentials in order to access these systems in the event that they become more relevant to their requirements in the future,” reads the advisory.
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“The group uses a variety of tools and techniques to predominantly target governmental, diplomatic, think-tank, healthcare and energy targets for intelligence gain,” according to the U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan praised the agencies for calling out the “bad behavior,” and deterring other malicious foreign actors from targeting Canadian intelligence.
Reckless
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that the U.K. stands with Canada and the U.S. “against the reckless actions of Russia’s intelligence services, who we have exposed today for committing cyberattacks against those working on a #Covid19 vaccine.” He said the hackers sought to undermine the international work underway to defeat the pandemic that to date has killed nearly 585,000 people worldwide.
It remains unclear whether the attempts were successful in stealing any information. In a statement to CTV News, CSE said that in regards to these hacking attempts the agency is offering support and mitigation services, “to limit impacts to targeted organizations.”
“On any given day, CSE’s dynamic defence capabilities block up to two billion reconnaissance scans on these systems,” CSE spokesperson Evan Koronewski said in the statement.
The three countries are now imploring all research facilities and other agencies involved in coronavirus research to take further actions to protect their information and contact CSE’s Cyber Centre if they suspect they have been targeted.
Risk Warning
The revelation comes after the CSE and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) issued a warning last May that Canadian intellectual property related to COVID-19 research and testing was at a heightened risk of foreign-backed hacking or other malicious activity.
The agencies claimed to have observed seen an increased risk of foreign interference and espionage related to the work being done by Canadian researchers during the pandemic.
The Uk, U.S, and Canada have committed over $2 billion towards a national medical and research strategy to combat the novel coronavirus .
A number of labs across all three countries have been exploring various treatments or vaccines, to examine their success in combating the deadly covod-19.
The funding includes millions of dollars for developing and producing vaccines and treatments in Canada, supporting similar work in other nations, as well as studying immunity and serology testing.
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