07/17/20
Russia's attempt to steal coronavirus vaccine research foreshadows a global 'scramble'
LONDON — The United States and its allies have painted it as Russian-backed cyber-thieves trying to pilfer the honest, hard work of Western scientists and disrupt collaborative efforts to solve the world's COVID-19 crisis.
In reality, experts say the alleged hacks into coronavirus research are just a taste of the nationalistic vaccine struggle that is already brewing among democratic governments — a growing tension that will most likely get ugly once an immunization trial is successful.
"There is going to be a real scramble," said Mukesh Kapila, a former adviser to the director-general of the World Health Organization. "I would be surprised if intelligence services in the Western world were not doing some spying, too — in fact, I would be disappointed."
On Thursday the headlines were lurid and alarming. Hackers inside Russia's intelligence services are trying to steal coronavirus vaccine research from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, according to a joint statement from the three countries. All three have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in leading vaccine candidates.
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