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Foreign hackers are targetting COVID-19 research, claims FBI official

Foreign hackers are targetting COVID-19 research, claims FBI official

FBI

A senior cybersecurity official with the Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Thursday that foreign government hackers have broken into companies conducting research into treatments for COVID-19.

The bureau had recently seen state-backed hackers poking around a series of healthcare and research institutions.

"We certainly have seen reconnaissance activity, and some intrusions, into some of those institutions, especially those that have publicly identified themselves as working on COVID-related research," FBI Deputy Assistant Director Tonya Ugoretz told participants in an online panel discussion hosted by the Aspen Institute.

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State-backed hackers had often targetted biopharmaceutical industry but it has certainly heightened during this crisis.

The FBI has so far not commented on this.