US accuses China-affiliated hackers of stealing COVID-19 IP
China-linked hackers are targeting organisations conducting COVID-19-related research, according to US officials.
In a joint statement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) warned the healthcare, pharmaceutical, and research sectors working on COVID-19 response that they are the “prime targets of this activity” and need to take the necessary steps to protect their systems.
The FBI said it was investigating the compromise of US organisations by China-affiliated “cyber actors” that it had observed “attempting to identify and illicitly obtain valuable IP and public health data related to vaccines, treatments, and testing from networks and personnel affiliated with COVID-19-related research”.
“China’s efforts to target these sectors pose a significant threat to our nation’s response to COVID-19,” added the joint statement.
In a statement emailed to WIPR, China’s embassy in the US said that the warning was based on a presumption of guilt and was made without any evidence.
“This is a new form of blame game that simply goes against conscience. It undercuts the ongoing international cooperation against the pandemic,” said the embassy.
It added: “China is known to [have taken] the lead in vaccine development and treatment of COVID-19. If America's logic made sense, should the Chinese institutions and enterprises be alert to hacking and theft from the US side? The world does not need such a dark mentality. Lies are always lies.”
Earlier this month, CISA and the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre issued an alert to highlight the active targeting of organisations involved in both national and international COVID-19 responses.
“Organisations involved in COVID-19-related research are attractive targets for advanced persistent threat actors looking to obtain information for their domestic research efforts into COVID-19-related medicine,” said the alert.
This earlier alert didn’t officially name any countries as responsible for the targeting.
But the latest warning comes at a time when US President Donald Trump is increasingly trying to place all the blame for the COVID-19 pandemic at China’s feet.
The warning also echoes the US’ many accusations of cyber-espionage and IP theft against China, claims that China has repeatedly denied.
In addition to the US Department of Justice’s China Initiative, aimed at identifying priority Chinese trade theft cases, the US also attempted to block China’s candidate to lead the World Intellectual Property Organization, with a bipartisan group of senators urging that given China’s “persistent violations of IP protections”, the US and its allies must stand firmly against such a move.
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