North Korea may have hacked into Pfizer servers looking for COVID data

Enlarge / Intrusion attempts on Pfizer servers have North Korea's fingerprints all over them, according to the South Korean NIS. (credit: Cleo Robertson / Cloudwatt)

This morning, South Korean intelligence officials warned the country's lawmakers of North Korean attempts to hack into a "local drug manufacturer" to illicitly obtain COVID-19 vaccine and treatment data.

As reported by The Washington Post, South Korean intelligence services committee member Ha Tae-Keung told reporters that the data sought included COVID-19 vaccine and treatment technology. Tae-Keung went on to say that South Korea detected a 32 percent year-on-year increase in North Korean cyber-attack attempts.

Pfizer has so far refused comment, leaving details vague on when the hack occurred or how successful it might have been. The newly reported hack attempts follow a spate of similar state-sponsored attempts against health organizations that Microsoft reported in November 2020. According to Microsoft, those attempts were made by Russian group Fancy Bear, along with North Korean groups Zinc and Cerium.

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