Russian Finance Minister: "No Russian Government-Affiliated Hackers"... Denies Hacking Allegations

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The Russian government has completely denied allegations raised by Western countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom that Russian government-affiliated hackers were involved in hacking research on the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines. Russia argues that there is no reason to engage in hacking, especially since a Russian pharmaceutical company has already signed a contract with the British company AstraZeneca for COVID-19 vaccine production, and vaccine-related information is expected to be shared.

On the 21st (local time), Anton Siluanov, Russia's Minister of Finance, stated in an interview with CNBC, "There are no hackers working for the Russian government, nor does the government direct hackers' actions," emphasizing, "Russia is not involved in cyberattacks, including attempts to collect data on other countries' COVID-19 vaccine research." This is a complete denial of the British government's claim last week that the Russian government deployed hackers to hack vaccine and treatment research achievements in Western countries such as the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Earlier, on the 16th, the United Kingdom's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) issued a statement accusing a hacker group called 'APT29,' sponsored by the Russian government, of attempting to hack COVID-19 research results from academia and the pharmaceutical industry in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. On the same day, Dominic Raab, the UK Foreign Secretary, condemned Russia in a statement, saying, "While the UK and its allies are making strenuous efforts to find vaccines and protect global health, others are recklessly pursuing selfish interests."

The Russian government has completely denied the UK's hacking allegations. On the 17th, the Russian government explained that since the Russian pharmaceutical company R-Pharma signed a COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing contract with the British company AstraZeneca and vaccine-related information is also scheduled to be shared, Russia has absolutely no reason to attempt hacking.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.