Healthcare bore brunt of cyberattacks in 2020, study says

A student pharmacist dilutes vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at University Medical Center of Southern Nevada. In addition to theft of intellectual property, health care companies also face significant threats from criminals, CrowdStrike found. — Getty Images/TNS

WASHINGTON: The global health care and pharmaceutical industries bore the brunt of cyberattacks in 2020 as nation-state hackers and criminals targeted companies looking for information on Covid-19 as well as vaccine development, cybersecurity research firm CrowdStrike said in a report made public Monday.

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to rage around the world with new variants appearing on multiple continents, forcing widespread closures despite the availability of vaccines, the health care industry is likely to remain in the crosshairs of hackers, the 2021 Global Threat Report from CrowdStrike said.