North Korean hackers were recently involved in an attempt to steal information about Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
The newspaper reported what South Korea’s National Intelligence Service briefed South Korean lawmakers on the threat during a closed-door meeting earlier this week.
According to the Post, Ha Tae-keung, a lawmaker and informed committee member on the matter, said the alleged hackers were chasing the COVID-19 vaccine and other Pfizer technology developed around the pandemic. He noted that South Korea saw a 32% increase in North Korea’s cyber attacks last year.
It was not immediately clear whether the hacking efforts were successful.
Pfizer did not respond to The Hill’s request for comment.
The news came in the wake of foreign hackers and cybercriminals who stepped up efforts last year to pursue COVID-19 vaccines and related medical research.
The Pfizer vaccine, developed with BioNTech, was one of the vaccines impacted by data breach European Medicines Agency in December. The hackers were able to access documents about the Pfizer vaccine and the one developed by Moderna, both of which were submitted for evaluation and approval in the EU.
North Korea was previously linked to the segmentation of COVID-19 vaccine research, with Wall Street Journal report in December, North Korean hackers tried to hack into six pharmaceutical groups involved in the development of the COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S. and South Korea.
The supply chain for the COVID-19 vaccine in the United States has also been threatened by hacking efforts. Authorities warned last year that the distribution process, especially refrigerated storage groups, was being targeted.
Malicious cyber activity targets other organizations involved in responding to the coronavirus pandemic.
The World Health Organization and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services were victims of cyber attacks last year, and hospitals in the U.S. and around the world were victims of ransomware attacks that undermined essential services.