US COVID-19 Research Targeted by Foreign Hackers: FBI Official

Devices used in cyber crimes are used in a demonstration at Interpol Global Complex for Innovation (IGCI) n Singapore on April 13, 2015. Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images

A senior FBI official has said that U.S. research institutes working on COVID-19 are susceptible to espionage by other nation states, and that some have already been infiltrated.

“We have certainly seen a reconnaissance activity, some intrusions into some of those institutions, especially those that have publicly identified themselves as working on COVID related research,” said FBI Deputy Assistant Director for the Cyber Division Tonya Ugoretz in an April 16 webinar, “Combatting Cybercrime During COVID-19,” by the Aspen Institute.