Race for vaccine pits spy vs. spy in classic conflict

Adversaries out to steal latest data on COVID-19 research.

WASHINGTON intelligence intent virus looked would Instead pharmaceutical they naissance of schools research. North conducted vaccine for on be of doing Carolina what simply on stealing an hackers the data, easy cutting-edge they digital — companies, going University and Chinese corona- believed so target. recon- other were after they

spies mier the research United They SVR, at intelligence States, work. were targeted networks not Russia’s Canada the service, vaccine in only pre- and the Britain, that a itoring British were international espionage spy first agency detected efforts mon- fiber by optic stepped steal Iran, information cables. too, up its has attempts drastically about vac- to cine States research, has increased and the its United own efforts of its adversaries to track the and espionage shore up In its short, defenses. every major spy trying service to around find out the what globe every- is one else is up to.

The coronavirus pan- demic has prompted one of the fastest peacetime mission shifts in recent times for the world’s intelli- gence agencies, pitting them against one another in a new grand game of spy versus spy, according to interviews with current and former intelligence officials and others tracking the espionage efforts.

Nearly all of the United

States’ adversaries intensified their attempts to steal American Washington, moved versities doing the to and protect most research corporations in advanced turn, the while uni- has work. expanded NATO to scrutinize intelligence Krem- has lin efforts to steal vaccine research as well, according to a Western official briefed on the intelligence. “It would be surprising if they were not trying to steal the most valuable biomedical research going on right now,” John C. Demers, a top Justice Department official, said of China last month during an event held by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Valuable from a financial point of view and invaluable from a geopolitical point of view.” China’s push is complex. Its operatives have also surreptitiously used information from the World Health Orga- nization to guide its vaccine hacking attempts, both in the United States and Europe, according to a current and a former official familiar with the intelligence. American intelligence officials learned about China’s efforts in early February as the virus was gaining a foot- hold in the United States, according to current and former American officials. The CIA and other agencies closely watch China’s moves inside international agencies, including the WHO. The intelligence conclusion helped push the White House toward the tough line it adopted in May on the WHO, according to the former intelligence official.

Besides the University of North Carolina, Chinese hackers have also targeted other universities around the country and some may have had their networks breached, American officials said.

Chinese intelligence officials are focused on universities in part because they view the institutions’ data protections as less robust than those of pharmaceutical companies. But spy work is also intensifying as researchers share more vaccine candidates and antiviral treatments for peer review, giving adversaries a better chance of gaining access to formulations and vaccine development strategies, said an American government official briefed on the intelligence.

So far, officials believe that foreign spies have taken little information from the American biotech companies they targeted: Gilead Sciences, Novavax and Moderna.

T he Russian effort, announced by British, American and Canadian intelligence agencies in July, was primarily focused on gathering intelligence about research by Oxford University and its pharmaceutical corporate partner, AstraZeneca.

Homeland security officials have warned pharmaceutical companies and universities about the attacks and helped institutions review their security. For the most part, officials have observed the would-be vaccine hackers using known vulnerabilities that have yet to be patched, not the more exquisite cyberweapons that target unknown gaps in computer security.

No corporation or university has announced any data thefts resulting from the publicly identified hacking efforts.

In short, every major spy service around the globe is trying to find out what everyone else is up to.