because they produce dry ice, which is used in
the cold chain, Zaboeva said.
The EU agency has been busy revising new
import and export regimes for coronavirus
vaccines and would be a gold mine for hackers
seeking stepping stones into partnering
organizations, she said.
Covax has struggled to raise enough money
to compete for vaccine contracts against
the world’s wealthiest nations in the race to
secure doses as fast as they can be produced.
But the UN and Gavi have invested millions in
cold-chain equipment across Africa and Asia.
The investment, in the works well before the
pandemic, was accelerated to prepare for an
eventual global rollout of coronavirus vaccines.
Whoever was behind the phishing operation
likely sought “advanced insight into the
purchase and movement of a vaccine that can
impact life and the global economy,” the blog
post said. Coronavirus vaccines will be one of
the world’s most sought-after products as they
are distributed, so theft may also be a danger.
Last month, Microsoft said it had detected mostly
unsuccessful attempts by state-backed Russian
and North Korean hackers to steal data from
leading pharmaceutical companies and vaccine
researchers. It gave no information on how many
succeeded or how serious those breaches were.
Chinese state-backed hackers have also targeted
vaccine makers, the U.S. government said in
announcing criminal charges in July.
Microsoft said most of the targets — located
in Canada, France, India, South Korea and the
United States — were researching vaccines and
COVID-19 treatments. It did not name the targets.