Washington: Chinese hackers have been found to target the institutions, pharmaceutical companies and agencies to steal their research on the Covid 19 pandemic, US authorities said. According to them, this can jeopardize the progress of the health care system in US.
The news agency, BBC, in its report on Thursday, mentioned the FBI claiming to have seen hacking attempts on US groups developing vaccines for testing and treating.
The US has long accused the Chinese government of cyber-spying which Beijing denies.
The UK and US had raised alerts about specific countries targeting their research work. Although, no names were taken, they had hinted at Russia, Iran and China. Now, in its new advisory, the US has gone all out and accused China singly. None of the authorities have released any evidence regarding it nor have they mentioned the details of it. This is being speculated to be a political move to distract and direct the audience and put more pressure on China.
The pandemic has worsened existing tensions between the two countries that have accused each other of failing to contain the outbreak.
The “public service announcement” from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, is designed to warn American organizations researching the effects of the virus against “likely targeting and network compromise by the People’s Republic of China,” according to a statement from the security agencies. “Any institution that believes it may have been subject to a cyberattack should contact their local FBI field office in order to help protect these critical response efforts,” they said.
“China’s efforts to target these sectors pose a significant threat to our nation’s response to COVID-19,” the FBI and CISA said. “This announcement is intended to raise awareness for research institutions and the American public and provide resources and guidance for those who may be targeted.”
More than 4.4m people around the world have been infected by Covid-19, with over 84,700 US deaths and 4,600 deaths in China, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (Cisa), a division of the homeland security department, issued a rare joint warning on Wednesday.
In what was billed as a public service announcement, they said “healthcare, pharmaceutical and research sectors working on Covid-19 response should all be aware they are prime targets” of hackers.
The cyber-thieves had “been observed attempting to identify and illicitly obtain valuable intellectual property and public health data” on treating the coronavirus, the statement added.
China has repeatedly denied US accusations of cyber-espionage.
Earlier this week, foreign affairs ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said: “We are leading the world in Covid-19 treatment and vaccine research. It is immoral to target China with rumours and slanders in the absence of any evidence.”
At a press meet on Monday, trump spoke about the cyber-activities of China probing into US research, “What else is new with China? I’m not happy with China, could have stopped it at the source, and should have. Now you’re telling me they’re hacking. What else is new? We’re watching very closely.”
US officials have accused China of hacking and intellectual property theft since long.
In 2009, the US alleged that Chinese hackers managed to gain access to the confidential data from the Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jet. Shortly afterwards, China announced it was developing a similar jet, the Shenyang J-31.
Intelligence officials have also in the past blamed China of using “non-traditional collectors”, who steal technology from US firms.
Bill Evanina, director of the US National Counterintelligence and Security Centre, has said China’s theft of US intellectual property amounts to about $400bn a year.
