Chinese hackers targeted the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and other schools to steal coronavirus vaccine data, according to The New York Times.
The World Health Organization gathers information about vaccine development worldwide, and China may be using that information to target organizations. Some of the universities that China targeted may have experienced network breaches, and the FBI has warned UNC about hacking attempts over the past few weeks, as hackers have tried to break into the computer networks for the school's epidemiology department.
The cyberattack was unsuccessful, and the school increased monitoring for its computer systems.
Government officials have also warned that China may use research partnerships with American universities to gain intelligence. In July, the federal government revealed that Chinese operatives tried to use the country's Houston-based consulate "as an outpost to try to make inroads with medical experts in the city" and were shut down.
More articles on cybersecurity:
Arizona imaging provider's EHR hit by ransomware exposing info of 244,800 patients
OCR updates HIPAA resources for cloud computing, mobile health apps: 3 details
Roper St. Francis employee email hack exposes 6,000 patient medical records