The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says it has evidence that China attempted cyber espionage. The goal? Steal sensitive data related to research conducted in the United States on a treatment for the Covid-19 epidemic. In a few days, the FBI will release technical details regarding these hacking attempts.
On May 13, 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released a statement. The document mentions the upcoming opening of an investigation into hacking attempts computing . However, these acts would be those of cyberpirates working for the Chinese government.
The two agencies indicate that these actions were aimed at obtaining information about the search in the United States for a vaccine against Covid-19 . There is also talk of intellectual property and public health data related to vaccines. By next week, the FBI and CISA will jointly publish a more comprehensive and technical document recounting these espionage attempts. In the meantime, the agencies are asking laboratories, researchers and the media to be very vigilant.
“The potential theft of this information compromises the development of secure, effective and efficient processing options,” can we read in the document.
Faced with the opening of this investigation, the Chinese government has so far remained silent. Furthermore, China was attacked during the month of August 2020 as explained by FireEye, an American cybersecurity company. Vietnam-based hackers attempted to steal confidential Chinese information. However, it seems that the hackers were targeting the management of the Covid-19 epidemic by President Xi Jinping.
At the same time, the World Health Organization (WHO) underlined the importance of the situation. In the midst of a pandemic, the overall increase in the number of cyberattack attempts is obviously problematic. However, there is talk of a multiplication by five of these attacks ! It was also recalled that in times of pandemic, the various laboratories and political actors should collaborate, and this also involves data protection.
Recall that for several weeks the United States has been investigating the P4 laboratory in Wuhan (China). Indeed, there are still strong suspicions about a possible escape of Covid-19. It could be that Patient Zero or an employee of the laboratory's virology institute. According to investigators, the employee unknowingly spread the pathogen in the city of Wuhan.
