Russia trying to hack, steal vaccine data, says Britain

Hackers backed by the Russian state are trying to steal COVID-19 vaccine and treatment research from academic and pharmaceutical institutions around the world, Britain's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said yesterday. A co-ordinated statement from Britain, the United States and Canada attributed the attacks to group APT29, also known as 'Cozy Bear', which they said was almost certainly operating as part of Russian intelligence services. The NCSC said in a statement the group's attacks were ongoing. Britain and the United States said in May that networks of hackers were targeting national and international organisations responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. But such attacks have not previously been explicitly connected to the Russian state.

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