Chinese hackers affiliated with the country’s government attacked the American biotechnology company Moderna Inc, a leading US developer of coronavirus vaccine research, in early 2020. This was reported on July 30 by Reuters, citing a source.
Last week, the US Department of Justice released the indictment against Li Xiaoyu and Dong Jiazhi. According to the indictment, Chinese hackers “conducted reconnaissance” against the computer network of a Massachusetts biotech firm that is working on a coronavirus vaccine in January.
According to the ministry, hackers have been carrying out attacks in different countries for ten years in order to gain access to developments in the areas of high technology, medicine, pharmaceuticals, business, education, gaming, defense, and so on.
Moderna, which is based in Massachusetts and announced in January that it is working on a COVID-19 vaccine, confirmed to the agency that the company had been in contact with the FBI and had been notified of a suspected “information intelligence” hacker group named in the indictment.
“Moderna remains very vigilant of potential cybersecurity threats by maintaining internal networks, external support services and good working relationships with external authorities to continually assess threats and protect our valuable information,” said firm spokesman Ray Jordan.
The federal government is supporting the company’s vaccine development with nearly $ 500 million and is helping it with clinical trials involving up to 30,000 people.
Earlier it became known that the American company Garmin, which produces digital devices for navigation, outdoor activities and sports, could pay hackers a ransom of $ 10 million in order to recover the stolen data.
On December 5, the US indicted two Russian cybercrime suspects. Maxim Yakubets and Igor Turashev are accused of fraud organized to misappropriate money and property by installing malicious software on computers.
The United States also imposed sanctions on 17 citizens and seven Russian companies for “malicious” cyber activities. Among the individuals were Yakubets and Turashev.