Coronavirus Vaccine Data Are Targets for Foreign Hackers

Intelligence officials from the US, UK, and Canada point the finger at Cozy Bear, a group with links to the Russian government.

Written byAmanda Heidt

| 2 min read

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cybersecurity, hacking, COVID-19, pandemic, coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, vaccine, Russia, US, UK, Canada

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Update (July 21): Today, the US Justice Department issued an indictment against two Chinese hackers linked to the country's intelligence services for attempting to steal proprietary COVID-19 vaccine information, The New York Times reports.

A hacking group affiliated with the Russian government is targeting academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies worldwide to glean information on COVID-19 vaccine research, according to Western powers. Intelligence officials from Britain, the United States, and Canada released a joint report this week condemning Cozy Bear—the same group responsible for email hacking during the 2016 US presidential election—for its use of malware to gain access to secure computers.

“We condemn these despicable attacks against those doing vital work to combat the coronavirus pandemic,” Paul Chichester, the director of operations for Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), says in a statement released alongside the report. The document goes on to state that Cozy Bear ...

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Meet the Author

Amanda Heidt
Amanda first began dabbling in scicom as a master’s student studying marine science at Moss Landing Marine Labs, where she edited the student blog and interned at a local NPR station. She enjoyed that process of demystifying science so much that after receiving her degree in 2019, she went straight into a second master’s program in science communication at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Formerly an intern at The Scientist, Amanda joined the team as a staff reporter and editor in 2021 and oversaw the publication’s internship program, assigned and edited the Foundations, Scientist to Watch, and Short Lit columns, and contributed original reporting across the publication. Amanda’s stories often focus on issues of equity and representation in academia, and she brings this same commitment to DEI to the Science Writers Association of the Rocky Mountains and to the board of the National Association of Science Writers, which she has served on since 2022. She is currently based in the outdoor playground that is Moab, Utah. Read more of her work at www.amandaheidt.com.
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