Hackers target Covid-19 vaccine research companies

Microsoft says hackers work for Russian and North Korean governments

Hackers working for the Russian and North Korean governments have targeted more than half a dozen organisations involved in Covid-19 treatment and vaccine research around the globe, Microsoft said today.

The software company said a Russian hacking group commonly nicknamed “Fancy Bear” — along with a pair of North Korean actors dubbed “Zinc” and “Cerium” by Microsoft — were implicated in recent attempts to break into the networks of seven pharmaceutical companies and vaccine researchers in Canada, France, India, South Korea, and the US.