Foreign hackers targeted COVID-19 research: FBI

WASHINGTON: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has claimed that the companies doing research on treatment for new coronavirus have been attacked by the hackers affiliated with foreign governments.

During an online panel discussion, FBI Deputy Assistant Director Tonya Ugoretz said that the hackers broke into the servers of several healthcare and research institutions which were working on the research related to COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus.

“We certainly have seen reconnaissance activity, and some intrusions, into some of those institutions, especially those that have publicly identified themselves as working on COVID-related research,” Ugoretz told the participants.

She claimed that the purpose behind those attacks was to get the information about what exactly these institutions are doing against coronavirus.

Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, Bill Evanina also advised the companies under attack to take all the security measures to secure their information as the cyber-attacks have certainly heightened during this [coronavirus] crisis.

“Medical research organizations and those who work for them should be vigilant against threat actors seeking to steal intellectual property or other sensitive data related to America’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now is the time to protect the critical research you’re conducting,” he said.