In a recent blog post, Microsoft has said that hackers from North Korea and Russia have been targeting companies conducting research for COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.
It said, The company says the attacks were aimed at seven leading pharmaceutical companies and researchers in the US, Canada, France, India, and South Korea.
Microsoft corporate vice president of customer security and trust, Tom Burt wrote in his blog: “Among the targets, the majority are vaccine makers that have COVID-19 vaccines in various stages of clinical trials.”
Microsoft didn’t name the companies, or provide details about what information may have been stolen or compromised, but said it had notified the organizations and offered help where the attacks were successful.
Burt Wrote: “It’s disturbing that these challenges have now merged as cyberattacks are being used to disrupt health care organizations fighting the pandemic. We think these attacks are unconscionable and should be condemned by all civilized society.”
According to Microsoft, the majority of the attacks were blocked by its security protections.
The hackers used various methods to carry out the attacks, according to the blog post, including brute force login attempts to steal login credentials, as well as spear-phishing attacks where the hackers posed as recruiters seeking job candidates, and as representatives of the World Health Organization.
