Exclusive: Suspected North Korean hackers targeted COVID vaccine maker AstraZeneca - sources


  • World
  • Friday, 27 Nov 2020

FILE PHOTO: A sign marks an AstraZeneca facility in Waltham, Massachusetts, U.S., September 9, 2020. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

LONDON (Reuters) - Suspected North Korean hackers have tried to break into the systems of British drugmaker AstraZeneca in recent weeks, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, as the company races to deploy its vaccine for the COVID-19 virus.

The hackers posed as recruiters on networking site LinkedIn and WhatsApp to approach AstraZeneca staff with fake job offers, the sources said. They then sent documents purporting to be job descriptions that were laced with malicious code designed to gain access to a victim's computer.

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