COVID-19 Vaccines Under Criminal Threat, Agencies Warn

Warnings of international crime targeting the yet-to-be-approved COVID-19 vaccines are getting louder, with the international police agency Interpol last week issuing an Orange Notice, which warns of an “imminent threat to public safety.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is also urging groups involved in vaccine storage and transport to be vigilant and it cited a new report by IBM’s X-Force commercial security research team about Internet-based criminals targeting the COVID-19 vaccine supply chain.

“Impersonating a biomedical company, cyber actors are sending phishing and spear-phishing emails to executives and global organizations involved in vaccine storage and transport to harvest account credentials,” DHS said, adding that the emails “have been posed as requests for quotations for participation in a vaccine program.”

IBM X-Force said the phishing campaign began in September 2020, spanned six countries and targeted organizations likely associated with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and its cold-chain equipment optimization program.

The IBM researchers couldn’t nail down exactly who was responsible but said the “precision targeting of executives and key global organizations hold the potential hallmarks of nation-state tradecraft.” Widespread media speculation has focused on the governments of Russia, Iran and North Korea.

Hacker groups in Russia and North Korea are continuing to wage cyberattacks against companies working on COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, Microsoft warned Nov. 16, calling on governments to take action against them (DID, Nov. 17). — Martin Berman-Gorvine