Security News
A cyberattack targeting coronavirus data at the EU's medicines watchdog lasted two weeks but will not affect the timeline for approval of the jabs, the head of the regulator said on Thursday. "We have been subject of a cyberattack over the last couple of weeks. This is being investigated," EMA chief Emer Cooke told a European Parliament committee.
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.
Ransomware attacks in the education sector have increased at the beginning of the school year, with cybercriminals stealing data and threatening to leak it unless the ransom was paid. The three U.S. agencies say that the reason behind the increased incidence of these attacks is the availability of DDoS-for-hire services that enable "Any motivated malicious cyber actor conduct disruptive attacks regardless of experience level."
A late October cyberattack on the computer systems of the University of Vermont Medical Center is costing the hospital about $1.5 million a day in lost revenue and recovery costs, its CEO said. The Oct. 28 attack crippled the computer systems of the hospital system that serves much of Vermont and parts of upstate New York.
The EU's medicines regulator said Wednesday it had been the victim of a cyberattack, just weeks before it is due to decide on special approval for two coronavirus vaccines. "EMA has been the subject of a cyberattack. The agency has swiftly launched a full investigation, in close cooperation with law enforcement and other relevant entities," the EMA said in a brief statement.
Cybercriminals are tapping into the impending rollout of COVID-19 vaccines with everything from simple phishing scams all the way up to sophisticated Zebrocy malware campaigns. Security researchers with KnowBe4 said that the recent slew of vaccine-related cyberattacks leverage the widespread media attention around the development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines - as well as recent reports that manufacturers like Pfizer may not be able to supply additional doses of its vaccine to the U.S. large volumes until sometime in Q2. These lures continue to play into the high emotions of victims during a pandemic - something seen in various phishing and malware campaigns throughout the last year.
On Tuesday, security firm FireEye revealed that it was hit by a state-sponsored cyberattack through which the attackers stole its Red Team tools, a collection of scripts, scanners, and techniques used to train clients on how to improve their security defenses. The attackers operated clandestinely using tactics that counter security defenses and examination, and ones that Mandia said were not seen by FireEye or its partners before.
The European Medicines Agency responsible for COVID-19 vaccine approval has suffered a cyberattack of an undisclosed nature, according to a statement posted on their website. The EMA is a decentralized agency for the European Union responsible for evaluating, monitoring, and supervising new medicines introduced to the EU. In a statement on their website, the European Medicines Agency has stated that they have suffered a cyberattack and are investigating with law enforcement.
The European Medicines Agency responsible for COVID-19 vaccine approval has suffered a cyberattack of an undisclosed nature, according to a statement posted on their website. The EMA is a decentralized agency for the European Union responsible for evaluating, monitoring, and supervising new medicines introduced to the EU. In a statement on their website, the European Medicines Agency has stated that they have suffered a cyberattack and are investigating with law enforcement.
The attacker targeted and was able to access certain Red Team assessment tools that the company uses to test its customers' security. "The attackers tailored their world-class capabilities specifically to target and attack FireEye. They are highly trained in operational security and executed with discipline and focus. They operated clandestinely, using methods that counter security tools and forensic examination."