Chinese Hackers Accused Of Stealing COVID-19 Vaccine Data From Spanish Labs

As drug companies are searching for a COVID-19 vaccine, medical institutions have become a new hot target of hackers. Recently, Chinese hackers have been accused of stealing COVID-19 vaccine information from Spanish laboratories.

A Spanish newspaper called El Pais was the one behind the accusation. The report stated that the details of the attack that included the time of the attack and the stolen information still remained unknown. So, it is unclear how important the information was.

The report did mention the nature of the attack, by quoting Paz Esteban, Spain’s secret service chief. The hackers had allegedly mounted a virulent campaign that targeted laboratories working on the vaccine. Esteban added that the hackers carried out attacks not only on Spanish labs but also in other countries.

During this time, sensitive sectors like healthcare and pharmaceuticals have become the targets of hackers.

According to security sources, most of these attacks were carried out by Chinese and Russian hackers. Although state organizations are said to be behind most of these attacks, some have been done by universities and criminal organizations to trade in hacked data.

Spain’s official intelligence agency hasn’t made any comment on the report.

This is not the first time that Chinese hackers were blamed for such attacks. Back in May, organizations as well as public healthcare professionals received warnings from U.S officials regarding cyber theft. The warning was from the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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