Reports: North Korea ‘tried to hack’ Pfizer for vaccine info

A vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19 is prepared at a vaccination center of the 3rd district, in Paris. Seoul’s National Intelligence Service ‘briefed us that North Korea tried to obtain technology involving the Covid vaccine and treatment by using cyberwarfare to hack into Pfizer’, said Ha. — AP

SEOUL: North Korean hackers tried to break into the computer systems of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer in a search for information on a coronavirus vaccine and treatment technology, South Korea’s spy agency said on Feb 16, according to reports.

The impoverished, nuclear-armed North has been under self-imposed isolation since closing its borders in January last year to try to protect itself from the virus that first emerged in neighbouring China and has gone on to sweep the world, killing more than two million people.