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A12 TECHNOLOGY
Friday 4 december 2020

Phishing ploy targets COVID-19 vaccine distribution effort

By FRANK BAJAK into the purchase and
AP Technology Writer movement of a vaccine
BOSTON (AP) — IBM secu- that can impact life and
rity researchers say they the global economy,” the
have detected a cyberes- blog post said. Coronavirus
pionage effort using target- vaccines will be one of the
ed phishing emails to try to world’s most sought-after
collect vital information on products as they are distrib-
the World Health Organiza- uted, so theft may also be
tion’s initiative for distribut- a danger.
ing COVID-19 vaccine to In the U.S., the FBI has been
developing countries. working with other federal
The researchers said they agencies and private in-
could not be sure who was dustry to protect vaccine
behind the campaign, development and delivery,
which began in Septem- Tonya Ugoretz, the agen-
ber, or if it was successful. cy’s deputy assistant direc-
But the precision targeting tor for cyber readiness and
and careful efforts to leave intelligence, said Thursday
no tracks bore “the po- at the online Aspen Cyber
tential hallmarks of nation- A refrigerated truck drives out of the Pfizer Manufacturing plant in Puurs, Belgium, on Thursday, Summit. The aim is to ward
state tradecraft,” they said Dec. 3, 2020. off not just cyberthreats but
in a blog post Thursday. Associated Press also more traditional hu-
The campaign’s targets, in organizations involved in from an executive of Hai- The EU agency has been man-centric espionage by
countries including Germa- vaccine storage and trans- er Biomedical, a Chinese busy revising new import adversaries who may seek
ny, Italy, South Korea and port, to review IBM’s find- company considered the and export regimes for to steal intellectual proper-
Taiwan, are likely associat- ings. Whoever is behind the world’s main cold-chain coronavirus vaccines and ty for financial gain, to ben-
ed with the development operation could be moti- supplier, the analyst said. would be a gold mine for efit another country or to
of the “cold chain” need- vated by a desire to learn The phishing emails posed hackers seeking stepping “undermine confidence in
ed to ensure coronavirus how the vaccines are best as requests for price quota- stones into partnering orga- U.S. efforts to provide an ef-
vaccines get the nonstop able to be shipped and tions and bore malicious at- nizations, she said. fective vaccine,” she said.
sterile refrigeration they stored — the entire refrig- tachments that prompted Covax has struggled to On the same panel,
need to be effective for the eration process — in order recipients to enter creden- raise enough money to Marene Allison, the chief
nearly 3 billion people who to copy it, said Nick Ross- tials that could have been compete for vaccine con- information security officer
live where temperature- mann, the IBM team’s glob- used to harvest sensitive tracts against the world’s (CISO) at Johnson & John-
controlled storage is insuf- al threat intelligence lead. information about partners wealthiest nations in the son, said that while she was
ficient, IBM said. Or they might want to be vital to the vaccine-deliv- race to secure doses as fast confident that major phar-
“Think of it as the bloodline able to undermine a vac- ery platform. as they can be produced. maceutical companies like
that will be supplying the cine’s legitimacy or launch Targets included the Euro- But the UN and Gavi have hers developing coronavi-
most vital vaccines glob- a disruptive or destructive pean Commission’s Direc- invested millions in cold- rus vaccines have strong
ally,” said Claire Zaboeva, attack, he added. torate-General for Taxation chain equipment across defenses in place against
an IBM analyst involved in In the ploy, executives with and Customs Union and Africa and Asia. The invest- hackers, some third parties
the detection. groups likely associated companies that make solar ment, in the works well be- involved in the process may
The U.S. Cybersecurity with the initiative known panels for powering por- fore the pandemic, was not. There have been re-
and Infrastructure Secu- as Covax — created by table vaccine refrigerators. accelerated to prepare for ports that Johnson & John-
rity Agency later issued an the Gavi Vaccine Alliance, Other targets were petro- an eventual global rollout son has been targeted by
advisory encouraging Op- the World Health Organiza- chemical companies, likely of coronavirus vaccines. North Korean hackers, but
eration Warp Speed, the tion and other U.N. agen- because they produce dry Whoever was behind the Allison said that doesn’t
Trump administration’s vac- cies — were sent spoofed ice, which is used in the phishing operation likely mean the attempts have
cine program, and other emails appearing to come cold chain, Zaboeva said. sought “advanced insight been successful. q

Govt. accuses Facebook of discriminating against U.S. workers

By MARCY GORDON visa holders for “green cards” ing unspecified civil penalties President Donald Trump has long
AP Business Writer authorizing them to work perma- and back pay on behalf of U.S. advocated restrictions on both
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump nently. workers deemed to have been legal and illegal immigration,
administration is accusing Face- The action followed a two-year denied employment. and has raised concerns for years
book in a lawsuit of discriminat- investigation by the Justice De- “Facebook has been cooperat- about foreigners competing with
ing against U.S. workers in favor partment’s Civil Rights Division. ing with the DOJ in its review of American citizens for jobs.
of foreigners with special visas to “Facebook intentionally created this issue and while we dispute In June, his administration extend-
fill more than 2,600 high-paying a hiring system in which it denied the allegations in the complaint, ed a ban on green cards issued
jobs. qualified U.S. workers a fair op- we cannot comment further on outside the U.S. until the end of
The Justice Department an- portunity to learn about and ap- pending litigation,” the compa- the year and added many tem-
nounced the suit Thursday, alleg- ply for jobs” that it instead sought ny, which is based in Menlo Park, porary work visas to the freeze,
ing that the social media giant to channel to temporary visa California, said in a statement. including those used heavily by
refused to recruit, consider or hire holders, the department said in a The so-called H-1B visas are wide- tech companies and multination-
qualified and available U.S. work- news release. ly used by software programmers al corporations for their employ-
ers for the positions that Face- The positions at issue offered and other employees of major ees. Officials cast the move as a
book reserved for temporary visa an average salary of around U.S. and Indian technology com- way to free up jobs in an economy
holders. Facebook sponsored the $156,000. The department is seek- panies. reeling from the coronavirus.q