New Delhi: The United States has condemned alleged attempts by “cyber actors and non-traditional collectors affiliated with the People’s Republic of China (PRC)” to steal intellectual property and data related to Covid-19 research being carried out by US groups.
“The United States calls on the PRC to cease this malicious activity,” a statement issued by the US State Department said Thursday.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took to Twitter to condemn China.
China, the country where the virus originated and the pandemic was allowed to spread, has refused to share information to help the world respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) May 14, 2020
“China, the country where the virus originated and the pandemic was allowed to spread, has refused to share information to help the world respond to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Pompeo said on Twitter. “Instead PRC-affiliated actors are trying to steal COVID-related research from the United States. We condemn these attempts and call on the PRC to cease this malicious activity.”
This comes after two US security agencies — the Federal bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) — released a public warning on 13 May, which had warned about attempts by Chinese hackers to steal coronavirus research being conducted by American groups.
These allegations are likely to exacerbate the already worsening US-China relations, as the two countries continue to struggle with trade disputes, and the US President Donald Trump adopts anti-China rhetoric as his key re-election strategy.
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What did the US agencies issue a public warning about?
A couple of days before the US State Department officially asked the Chinese government to reign its hackers and not steal US’ Covid-19 related research, the FBI and CISA had released a detailed public warning.
“The FBI is investigating the targeting and compromise of U.S. organizations conducting COVID-19-related research by PRC-affiliated cyber actors and non-traditional collectors. These actors have been observed attempting to identify and illicitly obtain valuable intellectual property (IP) and public health data related to vaccines, treatments, and testing from networks and personnel affiliated with COVID-19-related research,” noted the public warning.
“The FBI and CISA urge all organizations conducting research in these areas to maintain dedicated cybersecurity and insider threat practices to prevent surreptitious review or theft of COVID-19-related material,” the two agencies advised various research groups in the US.
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