According to a report published by BlueVoyant, attacks on the biotech and pharmaceutical industry have increased by 50% between 2019 and 2020. The report highlighted that nation-states are ramping up cyber attacks on companies that are developing vaccines, and this is likely to increase as production and distribution gets underway.
One of the major threats in 2020 is that the cyber criminals are aiming to steal COVID-19 vaccine research data. On the basis of analysis, researchers specified ransomware attacks have been the top threat in 2020 and the eight well-known prominent companies who are in a race for making the COVID-19 vaccine (the crown jewel of 2020) are at a high risk to these ransomware attacks.
On the basis of publicly recorded attacks, it is also pointed out by researchers that pharmaceutical giants and biotech companies are under daily attacks which include brute force, phishing attempts, and targeting of vulnerable web applications. BlueVoyant stated since the Pharmaceutical companies handle large amounts of patient and healthcare data, these companies have become a prime target for ransomware gangs looking to compromise, steal and exploit information amid the current pandemic situation.
As a preventive measure, these pharma giants and biotech firms must guarantee confidentiality, integrity, and availability in their research, development, manufacturing, and data management activities as they race against the clock to deliver life-saving breakthroughs in this COVID-19 pandemic.
