Hackers have been trying to undercut Western efforts to find a vaccine for the coronavirus with a series of cyberattacks targeting universities, pharmaceutical companies, and research institutes involved in the battle against COVID-19, Sky News reports on Tuesday.
According to the British news network, a joint advisory published by the US and UK governments said that these "malicious cyber campaigns" have the hallmark of state-sponsored cyberattacks, but it did not name a specific country as being behind them.
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Still, cyber experts believe the groups behind the attacks are working for China, Russia and Iran, among others.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called the cyberattacks "particularly venal" given that they were targeting efforts to counter the global pandemic, which has so far infected over 3 million people worldwide and, as of Wednesday, has left 258,481 dead.
"There are various objectives and motivations that lie behind these attacks, from fraud on the one hand to espionage," he said at the daily Downing Street briefing.
"We expect this kind of predatory criminal behavior to continue and evolve over the coming weeks and months ahead, and we are taking a range of measures to tackle the threat.
"We're absolutely determined to defeat coronavirus, and also to defeat those trying to exploit the situation for their own nefarious ends," Britain's top diplomat said.
The UK's National Cyber Security Centre and its US counterpart, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency urged all those involved in coronavirus research to exercise caution in their online conduct.
The joint advisory warned of an "advanced persistent threat by groups carrying out cyberattacks" against medical research, healthcare organizations and local government "to collect bulk personal information, intellectual property and intelligence that aligns with national priorities."
The NCSC and CISA issued a warning last month about cybercriminals exploiting the pandemic outbreak for their own personal gain.
