The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are expected to issue a joint advisory, though its timing remains fluid.
The Trump administration plans to issue a warning that cyber actors linked to the Chinese government are working to obtain U. S. research on coronavirus treatments and vaccines, according to a person familiar with the matter. The warning and its focus were first reported by the New York Times.
The advisory is expected to be issued jointly by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, though the timing of its release is fluid. Both agencies have closely monitored the activities of a range of foreign government hackers during the pandemic and have warned that universities, research facilities and healthcare institutions could face heightened risk.
“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 for the Cyber Division Tonya Ugoretz said during a panel discussion hosted by the Aspen Institute last month.
In a rare joint advisory, security agencies in the U. S. and United Kingdom warned last week that unnamed nation-state cyber actors were targeting “health care bodies, pharmaceutical companies, academia, medical research organizations and local governments.” The agencies urged employees of those organizations to harden their passwords and implement two-factor authentication to protect against the most common attacks.
