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Russia Accused of Stealing Western Coronavirus Research

Jamie Dettmer

   U.S., British and Canadian officials accused the Kremlin Thursday of
   being behind a massive and ongoing cyber hack aimed at stealing from
   Western pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions doing
   research into coronavirus vaccines and treatment therapies.
   In a joint statement, the governments of all three countries said the
   hacking operation started in February and has been unrelenting since.
   Britain's National Cybersecurity Center, part of the country's
   eavesdropping agency, GCHQ, issued the statement, which was coordinated
   with counterparts in the U.S. and Canada. Officials identified the
   Russian hacking group APT29, also nicknamed Cozy Bear, as being behind
   the hacks.
   "APT29 has a long history of targeting governmental, diplomatic, think
   tank, health care and energy organizations for intelligence gain, so we
   encourage everyone to take this threat seriously and apply the
   mitigations issued in the advisory," Anne Neuberger, cybersecurity
   director at the U.S.'s National Security Agency, said in a statement.
   Paul Chichester, the National Cybersecurity Center's director of
   operations, said, "We condemn these despicable attacks against those
   doing vital work to combat the coronavirus pandemic."
   Chichester said the Cozy Bear group "almost certainly operates as part
   of Russian intelligence services."
   All three Western allies are working to try to protect
   coronavirus-related research and are issuing new cybersecurity advice
   to pharmaceutical firms, universities and other research institutes.
   "We would urge organizations to familiarize themselves with the advice
   we have published to help defend their networks," Chichester added.
   The three Western allies first warned in May that state-backed cyber
   spies were trying to steal coronavirus data, but they did not at that
   time identify who was behind the assault. Officials briefed reporters
   off the record that China, Russia and Iran were involved.
   Cozy Bear, along with a cyber hacking group called Fancy Bear, have
   been accused by U.S. officials and private cybersecurity companies of
   hacking the U.S. Democratic Party in 2016 in the run-up to the
   presidential election.
   The accusation about the Kremlin-sponsored cyberattacks came just
   minutes after Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told lawmakers
   in the House of Commons that Russia had sought to meddle in last year's
   British general election.
   Raab said it was "almost certain" that Russia attempted to influence
   the outcome of the election, after documents detailing Anglo-American
   free trade talks were "illicitly acquired."

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