Covid-19 medicine and vaccine info leaked following cyberattack

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has confirmed documents related to Covid-19 medicines and vaccines belonging to third parties have been leaked on the internet following a cyberattack.

The EMA first confirmed it was the victim of a cyberattack in December 2020 and a statement, published by the EMA on 9 January, revealed the findings of an ongoing investigation.

“The ongoing investigation of the cyberattack on EMA revealed that some of the unlawfully accessed documents related to Covid-19 medicines and vaccines belonging to third parties have been leaked on the internet. Necessary action is being taken by the law enforcement authorities,” the statement said.

“The Agency continues to fully support the criminal investigation into the data breach and to notify any additional entities and individuals whose documents and personal data may have been subject to unauthorised access.”

A previous statement, released by EMA on 22 December, revealed “the data breach was limited to one IT application”.

The EMA said it will continue to release information about the cyberattack “in due course”.