By Thomas I. Likness
EBC Edmonton Bureau

EDMONTON (Eagle News) — Russia attempted to steal research information from researchers working on a vaccine for COVID-19, said the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) Thursday.

The CSE issued a statement that the cyber attacks were directed at Canadian, American and British organizations, including those doing research on vaccines.

“These malicious cyber activities were very likely undertaken to steal information and intellectual property relating to the development and testing of COVID-19 vaccines, and serve to hinder response efforts at a time when healthcare experts and medical researchers need every available resource to help fight the pandemic,” the CSE statement said.

National security agencies from the three countries allege that APT29 is behind the attacks.

“APT29, also named ‘the Dukes’ or ‘Cozy Bear’ was responsible for this malicious activity, and almost certainly operates as part of Russian intelligence services,” the statement reads.

Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre also issued a statement saying the hackers had several targets.

“The group uses a variety of tools and techniques to predominantly target governmental, diplomatic, think-tank, healthcare and energy targets for intelligence gain,” said the centre.

The malware is known as “WellMess” and “WellMail” and targeted a number of organizations globally and looks for vulnerabilities in their computer networks.

Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said it is important to defend health care organizations, the national interests, and that of Canada’s allies the UK and the USA.

“Let’s call out bad behavior, reinforce a shared and common understanding of rules-based norms and deter malicious foreign cyber actors from targeting our country,” Sajjan wrote on Twitter.

It is not know whether the hackers were able to steal any information.

(Eagle News Service)