Chinese Hackers Attack Serum Institute & Bharat Biotech
A Chinese State backed hacking group has targeted the IT systems of two COVID vaccine making companies namely Serum Institute of India (SII) & Bharat Biotech.
Rivals China and India have both sold or gifted Covid-19 shots to many countries. India produces more than 60% of all vaccines sold in the world. Cyfirma is a cyber intelligence firm, based in Singapore and Tokyo. They have said that a hacking group called ‘APT10’ or ‘Stone Panda’ that is supported by the Chinese government has in recent weeks targeted the IT systems of two Indian vaccine makers Bharat Biotech and the Serum Institute of India (SII). Cyfirma Chief Executive Kumar Ritesh said, “The real reason China is hacking into these two companies is because they want important information related to the vaccine so that China can use the information and make better vaccines than India.”
Cyfirma shared this information with the Indian government but there was no response from them. SII and Bharat Biotech also declined to comment. China's foreign ministry did not reply to a request for comment.
Similarly in November 2020, Microsoft had said that it detected cyber attacks from Russia and North Korea targeting covid vaccine making companies in India, Canada, France, South Korea and USA.
