North Korea is suspected of hacking the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine

Microsoft has accused North Korea of attempting to hack the Oxford vaccine. This was supported by South Korean intelligence reports which affirmed that Pyongyang hackers tried to steal the vaccines. 

North Korea's hacker attempted stealing AstraZeneca vaccine - intelligence 

In twisted news, the North Korean government has been accused of trying to hack the COVID-19 technology using some of their top hackers. This allegation was made by intelligence agents in South Korea. However, they didn't reveal if they succeeded or if it was just an attempt. 

The South Korean intelligence unit told lawmakers that the attack was done from a remote location in Pyongyang. When quizzed about the authentic nature of the allegations, Pfizer didn't comment. North Korea is yet to report a single infection of the virus, with government officials declaring the country COVID-19 free. However, critics have accused the North Korean government of killing COVID-19 cases. 

Microsoft names key actors in a hacking attempt 

The country will however get about 1.9 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine before the end of February. After the outbreak of the virus in late 2019, North Korea closed its borders. In December 2020, Microsoft alleged that about 10 medical firms including Pfizer-BioNTech have been targeted by various hackers city origins from Russia and Korea.

It named two key actors: Zinc and Cerium, and also Fancy bears. The Russian government has denied such claims and said it is a figment of the imagination of Microsoft. Although Microsoft has said that past attempts have failed, it is worried that they will eventually succeed one day. North Korea has always been suspected of because of its closed society.

In 2021, the agency in charge of cybercrime has offered protection around vaccine research and has recently shifted to distribution. Due to the demand and profitable nature of vaccines, it is expected that this will continue and pharmaceutical firms will need to protect their product well.