Study confirms the increase in right-wing extremism in Europe due to the epidemic

North Korea has tried to "hack" Pfizer's laboratories, looking for information about a vaccine

"Pfizer" and "Biontech" said that the European Agency had informed them of the breach.

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Information hackers from North Korea tried to penetrate the information systems of the Pfizer Medicines Group, in search of information about the vaccine and treatments against the emerging corona virus, according to what media reported yesterday, quoting the South Korean intelligence service, while the study confirmed the increase in right-wing extremism in Europe, due to Corona epidemic.

In detail, the South Korean Representative, Ha Tae Kong, told reporters that "the National Intelligence Service informed us that North Korea tried to obtain technology related to the vaccine and treatments against Corona, by means of a cyber attack to penetrate (Pfizer)."

Last December, the American company Pfizer and its partner, German Biontech, confirmed that hackers "illegally accessed" documents related to the Corona virus vaccine, as a result of a cyber attack on one of the major regulators in Europe, according to what was reported by "Reuters".

North Korea isolated itself with the closure of its borders in January 2020, in an effort to prevent the spread of the Corona virus, which first appeared in neighboring China, before it swept the world, killing more than two million people.

The European Medicines Agency, which is assessing drugs and vaccines for the European Union, said it was targeted by a cyberattack.

Both "Pfizer" and "Biontech" said that no personal data of the participants in the vaccine trials was affected.

It was not immediately clear when, how, or who was responsible for the attack, or the truth of the information included in the hack.

"Pfizer" and "Biontech" said that the European Agency had informed them of the vulnerability to the hack, and that some documents related to the regulatory introduction of the vaccine had been viewed.

Experts said documents like this could be extremely valuable for other countries, and for companies racing to develop a vaccine.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un confirms that there is no infection in the country with the virus, noting that foreign experts are skeptical of these assertions.

Mark Rogers, founder of the "CTI League" group, which works to combat the breaches related to Corona affairs, said that "when it comes to data provided for this type of regulatory entity, we talk about confidential information about the vaccine, its mechanism of action, its efficiency, risks and side effects." The known potential, and any unique aspects around it ».

He added that the data "provides detailed information about other parties involved in supplying and distributing the vaccine."

The "Pfizer-Biontech" vaccine was the race in the global competition to fight the Corona pandemic, and it has already begun to be distributed in several countries.

The process of developing Corona vaccines has witnessed intense piracy attempts, targeting health and medical institutions since the start of the pandemic, some of which were supported by different countries.

Reuters touched earlier on allegations of piracy attempts linked to North Korea, South Korea, Iran, Vietnam, China and Russia, in separate incidents, they tried to steal information about the virus and its potential treatments.

Reuters documented spy campaigns targeting companies developing medicines and vaccines, including Gilead, Johnson & Johnson, Novavax and Moderna.

Regulatory bodies and international organizations, such as the World Health Organization, have been subjected to repeated attacks since the pandemic began.

The "Pfizer-Biontech" vaccine is based on "messenger RNA" technology, which allows it to enter human cells and convert them into factories to produce the vaccine.

Pfizer says it expects to deliver up to 2 billion doses of the vaccine in 2021.

The company's South Korean office did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

On the other hand, a recent study showed that the outbreak of the Corona epidemic resulted in an increase in the intensity of the right-wing movement in Europe, and this was shown, for example, in the spread of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, such as the ideology of "Keio Anon", which is an American citizen, through Europe during the outbreak of the new Corona virus.

The study, commissioned by the Amadoy Antonio Foundation in Berlin, on right-wing extremism and terrorism in Europe, and presented yesterday, said that it can now be seen that there are speculations about alleged elites, closures and vaccination campaigns within right-wing extremist groups across the continent.

In order to conduct the study under the name "A Case of Hate - Right-wing Extremism in Europe", the British non-governmental organization "Hope and the Rejection of Hate", a non-profit charitable organization, and the Swedish Expo Foundation conducted a survey of 12,000 citizens in eight European countries on the issues. Political and social.

Zimouneh Raphael, who participated in writing the report on the study, said that anti-Semitism is not an essential element in the rhetoric of incitement in light of the "Corona" crisis in Germany only, explaining that it is either members of the "Reichsmen" movement in Germany, or members of the "Yellow Jackets" movement. In France, or those with national aspirations in the Netherlands, Italy and Greece, the strength of these groups lies in the link between local events and international developments.

She added that the ideology of the conspiracy "Keio Anon", which appeared in the United States, has spread especially in Britain and Germany, and is being adopted and sponsored by various currents, pointing out that there is also a danger represented by right-wing terrorism.

She explained that even if right-wing extremists tend to be nationalistic, they consider Europe "a common Western world that must be defended."

- "Pfizer" and "Biontech" say that no personal data of the participants in the vaccine trials has been compromised.

Morocco receives 500 thousand doses, second batch of «Sinopharm»

Sources in the Moroccan Ministry of Health said that Morocco received, yesterday, a second batch of 500 thousand doses of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine against the Coronavirus, as part of the national campaign for vaccination against the virus.

Thus, Morocco has obtained one million doses of the Sinopharma vaccine, in addition to six million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which was developed by the Indian Serum Institute for Serum and Vaccine.

Morocco requested 66 million doses of anti-"Covid-19" vaccines, which require each person to receive two doses, as part of its plans to vaccinate 80% of the country's 36 million people, free of charge.

By the day before yesterday, the number of vaccinated people in Morocco had reached 1.7 million, the largest number being vaccinated in any country on the African continent.

Rabat - Reuters

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