2020 European Medicines Agency cyberattack
In December 2020 the European Medicines Agency announced that it had been targeted in a cyberattack.[1][2] The agency announced that it had opened a full investigation in close cooperation with law enforcement and other entities but declined to give details of the attack while the investigation was ongoing.[1][2]
In a separate announcement BioNTech said that files relating to the COVID-19 vaccine it had developed with Pfizer had been unlawfully accessed after a cyberattack on the EMA.[2] BioNTech also said that "No BioNTech or Pfizer systems have been breached in connection with this incident and we are unaware of any personal data of study participants being accessed."[2]
Neither the dates nor the methods of the cyberattack were revealed, nor who the perpetrators were.[2]
The National Cyber Security Centre in the United Kingdom announced that it was studying the situation and how it would affect the UK.[2] The UK is the first country where the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine was deployed.[2]
References
- "European Medicines Agency says it has been targeted in cyber attack". TheJournal.ie. Press Association. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
- Sabbagh, Dan (9 December 2020). "Hackers accessed vaccine documents in cyber-attack on EMA". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 December 2020.