Kremlin-linked cyber hackers steal reams of medical trial records from British Covid lab
Iran and Russia launch hacking attacks to steal Britain’s vaccine secrets
HIGHLY confidential details of hundreds of Britons taking part in medical trials have been stolen from a lab fighting Covid-19, The Mail on Sunday has learnt.
This newspaper revealed last week how hackers linked to Russia and Iran were behind ‘utterly reprehensible’ hits on British institutions tackling the virus, including universities and research labs.
Two days after our report was published, the security services released official guidance to research facilities on protecting themselves from such attacks, but insisted that none had been successful.
Today, this newspaper can reveal new details about the scale of the online battle which has left the intelligence community ‘stunned’ and is a subject of mounting concern at No10.
A West London clinical facility that runs trials for medicines and vaccines was attacked in March, with hackers stealing reams of intimate data. Hammersmith Medical Research (HMR) admitted that historic scans of passports, national insurance cards and visa documents, as well as patient photos, health questionnaires and medical history documents, were stolen on March 14.
The Maze group of hackers claimed responsibility for the attack and even published some of the medical records on the dark web, with the lab turning to Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre for help.
It is understood that further investigation suggests the hackers responsible are based in Georgia and linked to the Kremlin and the Russian security services. One source claimed the hackers demanded £2 million for the return of data, but sickeningly offered the company a ‘discount’ if it found a cure for Covid-19.
HMR did not respond to a request for comment, but in a statement on its website said it was testing for Covid-19 for the NHS ‘free of charge’. No data directly relating to this testing has been stolen.
Ministers are believed to be receiving daily briefings on the cyber-warfare situation, which has been described as ‘fast-moving’. Concerns remain about a threat from Iran and officials are also worried about the dangers of hackers based in China trying to access secrets.
‘The past few weeks have seen cyber attacks on this country, the like of which even some of our most senior security officials have never seen,’ a Whitehall source said last night.
‘Make no mistake, the aim of all this is to disrupt the UK’s work in trying to find a vaccine,’ a separate source said.
‘We expect a further wave of attacks and are therefore taking all necessary steps to try to best protect our scientists from rogue states.’