South Korea’s spy agency has accused North Korean hackers of trying to break into the computer systems of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer in attempt to obtain vaccine information.
This comes after the leader of the nuclear-armed nation, Kim Jong Un openly declined claims of presence of coronavirus cases in the country.
The country which is located in the East Asia imposed self isolation by closing its borders in January last year since the genesis of the virus to protect itself from the virus that first emerged in neighbouring China.
However, reports revealed that the country which has the history of an army of thousands of well-trained hackers who have been attacking companies, institutions and researchers in the South used cyberwarfare to hack into Pfizer to obtain technology involving the Covid vaccine and treatment.
The vaccine which is developed jointly with Germany’s BioNTech uses synthetic version of a molecule called “messenger RNA” to hack into human cells and effectively turn them into vaccine-making factories.
Despite the country’s denial on the presence of the virus, AFP reported that it has been under pressure in attempt to deal with the disease following the economic and financial sanctions imposed by world powers to denuclearize the regime.
Meanwhile, the company’s South Korean office has not commented anything on the story.
Globally, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has reached about 109,735,851 with nearly 2,420,401 recorded deaths as of February 16.
