
APT29 targets Covid-19 vaccine development - jbegley
https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/news/advisory-apt29-targets-covid-19-vaccine-development
======
jimrandomh
The simple explanation here is that Putin asked for the best-possible
information about when a vaccine will be ready, and their intelligence agency
decided that to answer confidently, they needed to look at non-public
documents.

They would likely also be looking to manufacture their own supply, using
intellectual property they can't otherwise access. This would be a
straightforwardly good thing; vaccines made with stolen IP still save lives,
and those lives matter a lot more than how money moves around.

(Sabotage, on the other hand, would be unforgivable. But there is no evidence
of that happening, so it's best not to speculate about baseless accusations.)

~~~
meowface
Agreed. This sort of thing happens pretty regularly. It's just like using spy
planes: powerful states like to be able to extend their gaze as far as
possible.

------
fredgrott
Is it somewhat obvious..could not Putin just oh say stop hacking and ask for
it say oh gosh via the UN WHO?

------
p1anecrazy
Russia is one of the countries with the highest number of coronavirus cases.
Decades-long brain drain makes a development of its own vaccine impossible.
Now state-employed hackers try to steal an already developed one to mass
produce it for Russian population.

------
blendergeek
> Throughout 2020, APT29 has targeted various organisations involved in
> COVID-19 vaccine development in Canada, the United States and the United
> Kingdom, highly likely with the intention of stealing information and
> intellectual property relating to the development and testing of COVID-19
> vaccines.

Vaccine makers are trying to hide their work behind the veil of "intellectual
property". The makers of this malware want the information. For what purpose
do the 'malware' authors want the information?

1\. To make a vaccine that works. Making a vaccine is an objective good.

2\. To discover flaws with the vaccine that the company developing the vaccine
would rather keep secret. Alerting the public to dangerous vaccines is an
objective good.

I believe the real story here is that governments allow vaccine development
companies to hide their work behind a shield of intellectual property, while
the world needs a vaccine as quickly as possible.

~~~
number101010
I think it's fair to say that:

3\. This information is worth an enormous amount of money.

~~~
blendergeek
That would explain why the current companies are attempting to hide
information that could be used to save lives. Is that a moral justification
for the government granting the vaccine companies a monopoly on the
information, even though free sharing of the information could save even more
lives?

~~~
fanimalmanimal
I’ve read stories indicating that some of these companies are ramping up
production prior to approval in order to have batches of doses to distribute
soon after approval happens. Having a government that will protect said
company’s intellectual property helps reduce financial risk to the company,
making that preproduction a bit less risky overall. It’s also arguable that
protecting that IP is a moral justification for the same reason — saving
lives. There might not be as many companies developing vaccines and committing
to large production runs before they’re even approved without it.

Keep in mind, I’m not outright saying you’re wrong. I do think you’re way
oversimplifying things.

~~~
kube-system
Yep, sharing information may be important, but generating the information to
begin with is even more important. Whatever we do, the incentives must align
so we have as many people working on the problem as possible. It is critical
that there is a guaranteed revenue stream as reward for developing a vaccine;
the world does not have enough scientists that can/will volunteer their time.
IP is the established way of doing this. Maybe there are other solutions, but
if they haven't been implemented at this point, it's already too late.

