Healthcare & Essential Services Involved in COVID-19 Response Targeted by Threat Groups
Healthcare & Essential Services Involved in COVID-19 Response Targeted by Threat Groups The national cybersecurity agencies in two countries, the UK and the US, recently issued a joint alert warning that threat actors are targeting healthcare and essential services involved in the response to COVID-19. In a joint alert, the United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and United State’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) warned that advanced persistent threat (APT) groups are targeting organizations involved in both national and international COVID-19 responses, including healthcare bodies, pharmaceutical companies, academia, medical research organizations and local governments. APT groups refer to malicious actors, typically nation-state or state-sponsored, whose sole purpose is to gain access to victims’ computer networks and remain there undetected for an extended period. According to NCSC and CISA,…