Security News > 2020 > December > Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Targeted in EU Cyberattack

Another cyberattack has been launched - this time, threat actors were able to break into the European Medicines Agency server and access documentation about the vaccine candidate from Pfizer and BioNTech.

"Today, we were informed by the European Medicines Agency that the agency has been subject to a cyberattack and that some documents relating to the regulatory submission for Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine candidate, BNT162b2, which has been stored on an EMA server, had been unlawfully accessed," the Pfizer-BioNTech statement said.

Vaccine manufacturer Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, which was contracted to manufacture the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine for the Russian government, was forced to shut down factories in India, Russia, the UK and the U.S. after a cyberattack in mid-October.

"The detection of a fake influenza vaccine confirms that criminals seize opportunities as soon as they present themselves," the Europol warning read. "Owing to the pandemic, the demand for the influenza vaccine has been higher than usual and their risks being a shortage. Criminals have reacted quickly by producing counterfeit influenza vaccines. The same scenario is also likely to happen when COVID-19 vaccines do become available."

"IBM X-Force has released a report on malicious cyber-actors targeting the COVID-19 cold chain-an integral part of delivering and storing a vaccine at safe temperatures," the CISA statement read. "Impersonating a biomedical company, cyber-actors are sending phishing and spearphishing emails to executives and global organizations involved in vaccine storage and transport to harvest account credentials. The emails have been posed as requests for quotations for participation in a vaccine program."

News URL

https://threatpost.com/pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-cyberattack/162170/