London (AFP)

British government agency responsible for cyber security on Thursday accused a group of hackers of attacking organizations working on a vaccine against the new coronavirus in order to steal their research, claiming that it is "almost certain" that they are operating for Russian intelligence.

According to the National Cyber ​​Security Center (NCSC), these cyber attacks, which are still ongoing, mainly target British, American and Canadian organizations.

"The threatening group known as APT29" or "Dukes" or "Cozy Bear", "almost certainly operates within the framework of the Russian intelligence services", affirmed the NCSC, adding that its American counterparts and Canadians had reached the same conclusions.

"This malicious campaign by APT29 mainly targets government and diplomatic targets, think tanks, health and energy players to steal their precious intellectual property," he said.

British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said "it is completely unacceptable that Russian intelligence services are targeting those working to fight the coronavirus pandemic".

"While some are recklessly chasing their selfish interests, the United Kingdom and its allies continue their hard work to find a vaccine and protect global health," he said indignantly, adding that "the United Kingdom will continue to fight against those who carry out such cyber attacks "and who will sooner or later have to" be held accountable ".

According to NCSC director of operations Paul Chichester, the hacker group "uses a variety of tools and techniques, including spear phisphing and custom malware known as + WellMess + and + WellMail +".

The NCSC has released its findings alongside advice to targeted organizations to better protect themselves from these cyber attacks. "We condemn these despicable attacks on those doing vital work to fight the new coronavirus pandemic," added its director.

© 2020 AFP