The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has uncovered evidence of Chinese cyber espionage aimed at stealing sensitive data from American research on COVID-19 treatments. Technical details of these hacking attempts will be released by the FBI in the coming days.
On May 13, 2020, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a joint statement announcing an investigation into computing hacking attempts attributed to actors working for the Chinese government.
These operations targeted U.S. research on a COVID-19 vaccine, including intellectual property and public health data. The agencies plan to release a more comprehensive technical report the following week and urge laboratories, researchers, and the media to remain vigilant.
"The potential theft of this information compromises the development of secure, effective, and efficient treatment options," the document states.
China's government has not yet responded to the allegations. Notably, in August 2020, U.S. cybersecurity firm FireEye reported that Vietnam-based hackers targeted confidential Chinese data related to President Xi Jinping's COVID-19 epidemic management.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has highlighted the crisis, noting a fivefold increase in cyberattacks amid the pandemic. It stresses the need for collaboration among laboratories and governments, including robust data protection.
Meanwhile, the U.S. continues investigating China's Wuhan P4 laboratory over suspicions of a COVID-19 leak, potentially from Patient Zero or a virology institute employee who may have unknowingly spread the virus in Wuhan.
