North Korea has begun human trials with a COVID-19 vaccine, using information stolen from Western drug manufacturers by a dedicated team of hackers, according to a report.
The hermit kingdom is already in sentence 3 of the trials for his shooting, produced even when the secret nation refuses to admit any confirmed case, an informant told Daily NK.
The informant confirmed at the outset that it was based on the work of a specialized “hacking organization” dedicated to stealing information about vaccines, and caused alarm in the US, UK and South Korea from last year.
The piracy unit, called Bureau 325, operates under the General Reconnaissance Office while receiving direct orders from the Central Committee, the North Korean source said.
It is reported directly from Kim Yo Jong, the dreaded sister of supreme leader Kim Jong Un, who also helps manage the group’s activities, according to the report.
“Due to the nature of the cyberattacks, it is difficult to confirm exactly what kind of data North Korea stole,” cybersecurity expert Mun Chong Hyun told Daily NK.
But at least some of the stolen knowledge appeared to be at the center of the new vaccine, which is being developed by Kim Il Sung University’s Biological Industry Research Center, the source told Daily NK.
No matter how much wisdom they stole, however, it may not be enough for a successful COVID-19 plan.
“They have secured enough knowledge through piracy, but they do not have the capacity to produce [vaccines]”Said the outlet source.
“But for the supreme leader [Kim Jong Un] they directly ordered that a vaccine be developed independently, they have to show something in the way they give results, ”the source added.