Russia 'has nothing to do' with hacking attacks on vaccine developers - Kremlin

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia "has nothing to do" with the hacking attacks targeting organizations involved in coronavirus vaccine development, according to state-run news agency TASS. 

"We do not have information regarding who could have hacked pharmaceutical companies and research centers in the UK," Peskov said, reports the CNN.

"We can say one thing — Russia has nothing to do with these attempts and we do not accept such accusations just like we don't accept yet another set of unfounded accusations of interference in the 2019 elections."

An advisory published by the UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) details activity by a Russian hacking group called APT29, which also goes by the name "the Dukes" or "Cozy Bear," and explicitly calls out efforts to target US, UK and Canadian vaccine research and development organizations.

"APT29's campaign of malicious activity is ongoing, predominantly against government, diplomatic, think tank, healthcare and energy targets to steal valuable intellectual property," a press release on the advisory said.