As organizations continue to get bombarded with cyber threats in the midst of the global pandemic, United States medical and research facilities have become the prime target for cyber criminals.
Following multiple incidents where threat actors have resiliently tried to pierce the healthcare systems to steal confidential information related to coronavirus research, DHS has stepped in to make sure our organizations are well secured and protected.
In a scoop from CyberScoop, they posted a response from Bryan Ware, Assistant Director of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure for DHS stating – “I just want you to know that we have stepped up our protections of [the Department of Health and Human Services] and [the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] — our federally-funded research organizations,”.
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), is actively monitoring the web-connected electronic devices of major US pharmaceutical and research companies to spot any malware and/or vulnerabilities that may disclose confidential research information. Not only are they actively scanning their systems, but also trying to get them fixed before the malware actually infects the system.
While the US government agrees that China is behind the global pandemic and are actively trying to steal information related to the coronavirus vaccine, China has absolutely denied any claims related to the allegations.
Zhao Lijian, Spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed to the media on May 11th ‘20, “It is immoral to target China with rumors and slanders in the absence of any evidence,”
Even though evidence points in the direction of Wuhan and the virus has killed over 293,000 individuals around the globe in just a matter of months, Beijing has constantly made efforts of constantly misleading the world about the virus’ intense nature and its origin in the Chinese city of Wuhan – “one” fact that the Trump administration has consistently stressed on.
Tonya Ugoretz, Director of FBI’s Cyber Division disclosed last month, “We have certainly seen reconnaissance activity and some intrusions into some of those institutions, especially those that have publicly identified themselves as working on COVID-19 related research,”
With the rising number of deaths in the United States and constant intrusion from foreign cyber organizations, it’s imperative that the DHS along with analysts at cybersecurity companies around the world, has stepped in for secured progress of the research.
CISA has been aggressively working with law enforcement to ensure that the research related to the coronavirus cure sails successfully, says Ware.
