Hackers Target Coronavirus Vaccine Supply Chain
The international Coronavirus vaccine supply chain has been targeted by cyber-espionage, according to reaearchers at IBM. Unknown hackers have been trying to compromise accounts and computer systems of employees in various organisations involved in the COVID-19 vaccine supply chain. The hackers have been trying to break into the supply chain that will help COVID-19 vaccines get delivered at the required deep-freeze temperature. While it’s obvious that their spear-phishing emails are aimed at harvesting login credentials, their final goal is likely to get their hand on as much information as possible, according to IBM Security X-Force.
It’s unclear whether their attempts have yet been successful. IBM says it tracked a campaign aimed at the delivery "cold chain" used to keep vaccines at the right temperature during transportation. The attackers' identity is unclear - but IBM said the sophistication of their methods indicated a nation state.It follows warnings from governments - including the UK's - of countries targeting aspects of vaccine research.
Phishing Emails
IBM says it believes the campaign started in September when phishing emails were first sent out across six countries, which targeted organisations linked to the Cold Chain Equipment Optimisation Platform (CCEOP) of Gavi, the international vaccine alliance. Gavi's partners include the World Health Organisation, Unicef, the World Bank and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. They help distribute vaccines around the world to some of the poorest regions and this sometimes requires a "cold chain".
Malicious Code
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine - which was not the specific target of this campaign - needs to be kept at a temperature of about -70C as it is moved about. The attackers impersonated a business executive from a legitimate Chinese company involved in CCEOP's supply cold chain to make it more likely the targets would engage with the email. They then sent phishing emails to organisations that provided transportation, which contained malicious code and asked for people's log in credentials.
That could have allowed them to understand the infrastructure that governments intended to use to distribute vaccines. "Advanced insight into the purchase and movement of a vaccine that can impact life and the global economy is likely a high-value and high-priority nation-state target," IBM says.
According to IBM the wider targeting included:
- The European Commission's Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union.
- Companies involved in manufacturing solar panels, which can be used to keep vaccines cold in places where reliable power is not available.
- A South Korean software-development company.
- A German website-development company, which supports clients associated with pharmaceutical manufacturers, container transport, biotechnology and manufacturers of electrical components for communications
The hacking campaign was uncovered by an IBM Security team set up at the start of the pandemic to track down Covid-19 cyber threats. "The precision targeting and nature of the specific targeted organisations potentially point to nation-state activity.... Without a clear path to a payout, cyber criminals are unlikely to devote the time and resources required to execute such a calculated operation." IBM said.
Intelligence Gathering
IBM says it has notified those targeted as well as law-enforcement authorities.In July, the UK warned Russian intelligence had targeted UK vaccine research, including the British Astra Zeneca project in Oxford. The US authorities have warned of Chinese hacking, while Microsoft has said it had seen North Korean and Russian hackers targeting vaccine research. US officials suggested the activity so far had been about intelligence gathering rather than disruption of any research.
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