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World Health Organization (WHO)
ChinaMilitary

Coronavirus: Wuhan lab at centre of conspiracy theory targeted by hackers

  • Staff email addresses and login credentials reportedly leaked and circulated online, but it’s not clear who was behind it
  • WHO, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and US CDC among those hit by the cyberattacks

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The Wuhan Institute of Virology is at the centre of a conspiracy theory about the origin of the new coronavirus. Photo: AFP
Liu Zhen
The Chinese research laboratory at the centre of a conspiracy theory about the origin of the new coronavirus has been targeted by hackers, according to security watchers.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology was among targets including the World Health Organisation whose employees’ email addresses and login credentials were leaked and circulated online on Tuesday, the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors right-wing extremism, said in a report.

The information was shared on Telegram channels, Twitter accounts and message board threads, especially those used by far-right extremists. Screen captures of attempts to log in to email accounts using the leaked information were also posted on discussion sites.

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The Wuhan institute, which is affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, runs the country’s only level-four biosafety laboratory – the highest level that carries out research on the most dangerous pathogens. It is located in the central Chinese city where coronavirus cases were first reported late last year and has been the subject of persistent speculation that the new virus strain was accidentally leaked from the lab, which the institute has denied.
The institute runs the country’s only level-four biosafety laboratory that carries out research on the most dangerous pathogens. Photo: AFP
The institute runs the country’s only level-four biosafety laboratory that carries out research on the most dangerous pathogens. Photo: AFP
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The WHO on Thursday confirmed that some 450 active WHO email addresses and passwords were leaked, but said they did not put the global health body’s systems at risk because the data was not recent. However, the WHO said the cyberattack had an impact on an older extranet system that was used by current and retired staff as well as partners, and noted an increase in such attacks.

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