Security News > 2020 > November > Microsoft: Russian, North Korean Hackers Target Vaccine Work
Microsoft said it has detected attempts by state-backed Russian and North Korean hackers to steal valuable data from leading pharmaceutical companies and vaccine researchers.
Microsoft said most of the targets - located in Canada, France, India, South Korea and the United States - were "Directly involved in researching vaccines and treatments for COVID-19." It did not name the targets but said most had vaccine candidates in various stages of clinical trials.
Two others were North Korea's Lazarus Group and a group Microsoft calls Cerium.
The Lazarus Group posed as job recruiters while Cerium targeted spear-phishing emails that masqueraded as missives from World Health Organization representatives, Microsoft said.
Optimism about a COVID-19 vaccine has grown since pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced earlier this week that preliminary data showed its vaccine to be 90% effective.
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