Security News > 2020 > December > Hackers Targeting Companies Involved in Covid-19 Vaccine Distribution
A global spear-phishing campaign has been targeting organizations associated with the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines since September 2020, according to new research.
Attributing the operation to a nation-state actor, IBM Security X-Force researchers said the attacks took aim at the vaccine cold chain, companies responsible for storing and delivering the COVID-19 vaccine at safe temperatures.
The development has prompted the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to issue an alert, urging Operation Warp Speed organizations and companies involved in vaccine storage and transport to review the indicators of compromise and beef up their defenses.
IBM said the attacks likely targeted organizations linked to the Gavi vaccine alliance with the goal of harvesting user credentials to gain future unauthorized access to corporate networks and sensitive information relating to the COVID-19 vaccine distribution.
In November, Microsoft said it detected cyberattacks from three nation-state agents in Russia and North Korea directed against pharmaceutical companies located in Canada, France, India, South Korea, and the US that are involved in COVID-19 vaccines in various stages of clinical trials.