The global competition to be the first to discover the vaccine capable of reducing the spread of COVID-19 has also directed and modified the "core business”Of major intelligence agencies globally.
In an article published by the New York Times, some interviews with intelligence officers on duty and on leave and with other people who follow the missions of the various security agencies around the world were cited. Apparently the change in mission by the Intelligence was very sudden, among the fastest in history.
According to the New York Times, the main intelligence services are carrying out intense intelligence activity, against each other, to find out where vaccine research is and at the same time steal new and valuable information.
Much of this "biomedical" espionage takes place in international organizations, such as United Nations andWorld Health Organization (WHO).
The American newspaper states that within the WHO the Central Intelligence Agency - CIA - and other Western spy agencies are closely watching their rivals, including Chinese and Russian agents.
Meanwhile, the Federal Bureau of Investigation - FBI - is committed to protecting American universities and companies that are already working on an advanced stage of the vaccine. In particular, theUniversity of North Carolina (A C). The document states that UNC's epidemiology department was recently the target of a "massive" attack by foreign hackers, as well as major American pharmaceutical research companies, including G.ilead Sciences, Novavax and Moderna.
In other cases, foreign spies tried to lure doctors and researchers. According to the Times, one of the reasons Donald Trump decided to close the Chinese consulate in Huston in July was because there were strong suspicions that Chinese spies were using the headquarters as a base to make contact with American biomedical researchers.
Officially, the American position on the espionage race against the coronavirus is purely defensive. But, according to the Times, American intelligence agencies are trying to find out what Russian, Chinese and Iranian scientists have in their possession, to find out if the material and information has been stolen. Of course, as they do these activities, they might also find information about researching those countries and collect it, the NYT says.