The USA accuses China of the attempt to steal data on the COVID-19 vaccine

The US Department of Justice brought charges two Chinese citizens for hacking the computer systems of several organizations, including government ones.

In some cases, hackers acted for their own, in others – for the Chinese intelligence services or the government, according to American authorities.

The Justice Department reported on that the theft of a terabyte of data that pose a threat to the United States. Data on COVID-19 vaccine were among the hacked data. The department stated that the hackers studied data not only on the vaccine development, but also on the development on test systems and COVID-19 drugs.

The Ministry of Justice, in particular, charged the hackers with cyber fraud (the maximum punishment is up to five years of imprisonment) and theft of trade secrets (up to 10 years). The final penalty on all counts must be appointed by the US Congress.