South Korean intelligence agencies thwarted North Korea's attempt to hack some of the country's coronavirus vaccine development companies.
South Korean Member of Parliament Ha Tae-Keung said the intelligence agency, the National Intelligence Service, did not specify in detail how many and what companies were targeted but informed that nothing bad had happened following the hacking attempt.
The hacking attempt was uncovered as South Korea faced a third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Today, South Korea recorded a total of 569 new cases of infection and is the second consecutive day the country has recorded more than 500 cases of infection.
However, the death toll in South Korea is still low after only one death was recorded today, bringing the total number of deaths to 516 victims in the country.
Last week, Microsoft revealed that hackers working with Russia and North Korea had tried to hack seven pharmaceutical companies and vaccine researchers in South Korea, Canada, France, India and the United States (US).
Last July, Chinese hackers allegedly hacked the biotechnology company Moderna to steal valuable data.
According to intelligence officials, the hacking attack was seen as an attempt to steal intellectual property instead of trying to disrupt the vaccine research.
North Korea has not responded to the allegations.
