Since August of this year, North Korean hackers have tried to gain access to the computer systems of at least six pharmaceutical companies developing vaccines against coronavirus infection (COVID-19). This was reported by The Wall Street Journal, citing sources.
According to sources, the targets of the cybercriminals were the American company Johnson & Johnson Novavax Inc., the South Korean companies Genexine Inc., Shin Poong Pharmaceutical Co. and Celltrion Inc., as well as the UK company AstraZeneca PLC.
It remains unknown whether North Korean criminals were able to gain access to confidential information. The experts managed to identify the digital fingerprints of the attackers, in particular the IP addresses that were used in the attacks on the US Department of State and the Ministry of Unification of the Republic of Korea.
Representatives from Shin Poong and Celltrion confirmed the attacks and noted that the attacks were carried out via email.