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A South Korean lawmaker said Pfizer was targeted in an alleged North Korean effort to obtain COVID-19 vaccine information. But the country’s intelligence agency, the NIS, reportedly did not name Pfizer in its briefing, and public accounts did not establish that the company was breached or that any data was stolen.
What South Korea’s intelligence agency reportedly said
After a closed-door parliamentary briefing on February 16, 2021, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) was reported to have said that North Korea attempted to hack South Korean drug manufacturers to obtain information about coronavirus vaccines and treatments. Yonhap’s account described that agency statement in general terms.
Why Pfizer was named—and what the agency said
Ha Tae-keung, an opposition lawmaker on the National Assembly intelligence committee, separately told reporters that Pfizer had been subject to an attempt to steal vaccine and treatment technology. Ha cited NIS documents and other sources but did not specify them, according to Yonhap.
An Associated Press report carried by Channel NewsAsia said the NIS denied naming any pharmaceutical company in its briefing. The public accounts therefore distinguish Ha’s Pfizer-specific claim from the agency’s reported, broader description of attempts against South Korean manufacturers.
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Was Pfizer breached or was information stolen?
The available public reports do not establish that an attempt against Pfizer succeeded, that Pfizer’s systems were breached, or that information was taken. The Washington Post’s contemporaneous report said the timing and success of the alleged attempt were unclear. The reports did not provide publicly described forensic evidence, indicators of compromise, or an attack method, and they did not report confirmation from Pfizer.
What the reported cyberattack figure means
The NIS also reported an average of about 1.58 million cyberattack attempts per day in South Korea, a 32 percent year-on-year increase, according to Yonhap. The agency said most attempts were unsuccessful. This was an aggregate figure for South Korea—not a count of attacks on Pfizer—and it does not establish that any particular attempt succeeded.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Do not confuse the allegation with the EMA incident
In December 2020, Pfizer and BioNTech disclosed that vaccine-related documents had been “unlawfully accessed” during a cyberattack on a server at the European Medicines Agency (EMA), according to SecurityWeek’s report. That was a separate incident. The report did not attribute the EMA server attack to North Korea, and it is not evidence that Pfizer’s own systems were compromised in the later allegation.
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