Vaccine projects cyberattacked
Some Japanese research institutions developing coronavirus vaccines have been hit by cyberattacks, apparently by China, in what are believed to be the first cases of their kind in the country, a US information security firm said yesterday.
Amid an intensifying race to develop vaccines against the pandemic, those bodies have been targeted by attacks since April but no reports of information leaks have been made, according to CrowdStrike.
The government’s National Center of Incident Readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity has urged drug makers and research organisations to raise alert levels against such attempts to steal confidential information.
The US firm did not disclose the names of the targeted institutions but said it suspects the attacks had been attempted by a Chinese hacker group, based on the techniques employed.
The attacks i nvolved sending emails attached with electronic files, which seemed to be related to the new virus but contained computer viruses, according to the company.
Scott Jarkoff, CrowdStrike’s director responsible for the Asia-Pacific region, pointed out that espionage attempts led by governments had been intensifying to achieve the goal of developing Covid19 vaccines ahead of other countries.
About 190 vaccine projects were in progress as of late September, some of which have entered the final stages of trials, according to World Health Organization and other data.
In Japan, the University of Tokyo, Osaka University and the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, among others, have joined the race.
The government-sponsored Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development, (Amed), which allocates state funds to support medical research, has adopted 20 vaccine projects conducted by universities and private companies.
Major pharmaceutical firms, including Takeda and Daiichi Sankyo, have been selected for the agency’s support scheme for Covid-19 vaccine development, which grants up to 10 billion yen (2.95 billion baht) to each project, according to Amed.
But it is still unknown when the first domestically developed vaccine will be practically used, while some foreign countries aim to introduce their own by the end of the year.
In July, the United States, Britain and Canada alleged in a report that hackers linked to a Russian intelligence service had tried to steal information from researchers working to produce coronavirus vaccines in their countries, which Moscow denied.
Also that month, the US Justice Department indicted two Chinese nationals, who it believed were working on behalf of the Chinese government, for hacking into the computer systems of hundreds of companies, governments and non-governmental organisations.
The i ntention was clearly to steal Covid-19 research and other information.
Beijing denied involvement in the attempts.
Masakatsu Morii, a professor in information security at Kobe University, said it was a matter of course for information on Covid-19 vaccines to be subject to cyberattacks because hacker groups tended to steal confidential
information which was at the centre of attention.
“The Japanese government should provide sufficient support for [cyber] security, in addition to vaccine development, as it is projected to take a few years before vaccines will be supplied in a stable manner,” Mr Morii said.