‘North Korean hackers’ target Covid vaccine maker AstraZeneca with bogus WhatsApp and LinkedIn messages
HACKERS suspected to be from North Korea targeted coronavirus vaccine maker AstraZeneca with bogus WhatsApp and LinkedIn messages, according to reports.
Sources told Reuters that hackers from the rogue nation targeted the British pharmaceutical giant as it races to deploy a jab for Covid-19.
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North Korean hackers reportedly targeted coronavirus vaccine maker AstraZeneca [/caption] Hackers from the rogue nation are said to have targeted the British firm’s vaccine making programme[/caption]Astrazeneca have partnered with Oxford University to produce a coronavirus vaccine, which recently released successful efficacy data from Phase III clinical trials.
According to Reuters, the hackers posed as recruiters on networking site Linkedin and WhatsApp and approached AstraZeneca staff with fake job offers.
The alleged hackers then sent documents purporting to be job descriptions laced with malicious code, designed to gain access to a victim’s computer.
One of the sources claimed that the apparent hacking attempts targeted a “broad set of people”, including staff working on coronavirus research.
The source stressed that none of the hacking attempts were successful.
The North Korean mission to the United Nations in Geneva did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
According to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the alleged attempt to hack Astrazeneca’s programme comes as part of a sophisticated campaign to disrupt Western institutions.
In the past, this has included media organisations and defence companies, but is now said to have pivoted to vaccine making efforts, according to three people who investigated the attacks.
It comes amid a spate of hacking allegations levelled at the hermit state[/caption]Western officials say any stolen information could be sold for profit, used to extort the victims, or give foreign governments a valuable strategic advantage in the fight against the pandemic.
Just last week, Microsoft said three hacker groups working for Russian and North Korean governments had tried to break into the networks of leading pharmaceutical companies in South Korea, France, India and the US, the Guardian reports.
It comes amid a spate of cyber attacks which security officials have linked to the hermit state.
According to the New York Times, the attack began in 2017, at a time when tensions between North Korea and the United States were flaring.
Raj Samani, chief scientist at McAfee, told The Times: “[The hackers] are very, very, very active. It’s been nonstop.”
Pyongyang has consistently denied the claims – insisting they are part of a smear campaign by Washington.
The alleged attempt to undermine vaccine making efforts comes despite North Korea suffering badly from the pandemic, which originated in neighbour China in the central city of Wuhan.
Leader Kim Jong Un made a rare tearful apology to the public in October, acknowledging the daily hardships for North Koreans battered by typhoons, coronavirus and economic sanctions.
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But Pyongyang continues to stress it has not recorded a single coronavirus cases.
Despite the denial, a shocking report earlier this month warned that North Korea’s coronavirus victims are starving to death after being abandoned in secret quarantine camps.
Yesterday, The Sun reported how Kim Jong Un was tackling the onslaught of the bug by laying landmines across its border.