New Delhi: Days after cyber intelligence and threat discovery platform Cyfirma claimed that Chinese hackers targeted Indian vaccine makers Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech, China's foreign ministry on Wednesday, denied the allegations, news agency Reuters reported.
Cyfirma in its report had claimed that a Chinese state-backed hacking group had in recent weeks targeted the IT systems of two Indian vaccine makers whose coronavirus shots are being used in the country's immunisation campaign.
This move by China has triggered a sense of concern and anger among people from different walks of life including politicians, tech experts as well as the international community.
What is shocking about the fact is that when border tension between the two Asian military giants is gradually indicating a sign of thaw after both the side agreed to reach an agreement of disengagement and de-escalation in the Galwan valley, China once again has broken the trust by attempting such nefarious tactics of sabotage.
Also read: 'China hackers looking to attack state servers'
Former diplomat Jitendra Tripathi opines that China is known for anti-rule activities in fields of manufacturing, business as well as cyber. Not only India but many countries including Germany, France, Britan have been the victims of the past.
Now Chinese hackers have hacked the sites of Bharat Biotech and SII to get the composition of the vaccines so that they can discredit the vaccines and spread misinformation to the world because India has got leverage in terms of its vaccine diplomacy, he told ETV Bharat.
The growing popularity of India has alerted China that their sphere of options is going to be reduced. Recently it has also come to the fore that Chinese hackers hacked the Mumbai Power Supply Corporation back in October 2020, and it has been found that China also tried to hack the Union Ministry of Power. China is trying all sorts of practices against India. India must be prepared and alert, Tripathi informed.
The centre has recently issued instructions to be on alert after Chinese hackers hacked Indian servers.
Moreover, according to a report titled 'threat landscape for pharmaceutical companies' by Cyfirma, cyber-attack campaigns originating from Russia, China etc are targeting top pharma companies in India, the US, the UK, Japan, Australia, Spain, Italy to name a few.
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China and India have both gifted and sold COVID-19 vaccines shots to many countries under its vaccine diplomacy programme.
India has also supplied vaccines as a gift to many countries including Bangladesh (20 Lakhs), Myanmar (17 Lakhs), Nepal (10 Lakhs), Bhutan (1.5 Lakhs), Maldives (1 Lakh), Mauritius (1 Lakh), Seychelles (50000), Sri Lanka ( 5 Lakhs), Bahrain (1 Lakh), Oman (1 lakh), Afghanistan (5 Lakhs), Barbados (1 Lakh) and Dominica (70000).
