{"id":166087,"date":"2020-08-03T12:00:20","date_gmt":"2020-08-03T11:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=166087"},"modified":"2020-08-01T07:37:17","modified_gmt":"2020-08-01T06:37:17","slug":"worries-about-foreign-hacking-of-vaccine-research-place-corporate-profits-ahead-of-public-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2020\/08\/worries-about-foreign-hacking-of-vaccine-research-place-corporate-profits-ahead-of-public-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Worries about Foreign \u2018Hacking\u2019 of Vaccine Research Place Corporate Profits Ahead of Public Health"},"content":{"rendered":"

28 Jul 2020 – <\/em>A recent spate of reports in US media features US officials accusing Official Enemies Russia and China of \u201cstealing\u201d the US\u2019s coronavirus vaccine research data. To accuse another party of \u201cstealing\u201d something, of course, is to imply unjust deprivation. If my wallet is stolen, it means I no longer possess it or its contents, while someone else does. Does it make sense to describe the alleged actions of Russian and Chinese hackers as a form of \u201ctheft\u201d? If so, what kind of \u201ctheft\u201d is it?<\/p>\n

\"NYT:<\/p>\n

The New York Times<\/strong> (7\/16\/20<\/a>) reported that \u201cRussia has aimed much of its recent cyberespionage, like election interference, at weakening geopolitical rivals and strengthening its hand.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The New York Times<\/b>\u2019 report, \u201cRussia Is Trying to Steal Virus Vaccine Data, Western Nations Say\u201d (7\/16\/20<\/a>), levied the accusations of US, British and Canadian governments that \u201cthe Kremlin\u201d is \u201copening a new front in its spy battles with the West amid the worldwide competition to contain the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Times<\/b> story, by national security reporter Julian Barnes<\/a>, takes it for granted that individual countries around the world are engaged in a ruthless struggle to gain geopolitical advantage by being the first to develop an effective vaccine. That ignores projects like the Inclusive Vaccine Alliance<\/a>, formed by the German, French, Dutch and Italian governments to speed up development of a vaccine through joint research and investments. The Chinese government, for its part, has declared that its vaccine will be a \u201cglobal public good<\/a>,\u201d and has repeatedly insisted on the necessity of \u201csolidarity and cooperation,\u201d in addition to actively cooperating<\/a> with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (People\u2019s Daily<\/b>, 7\/10\/20<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The day after the Times<\/b> published these accusations, the Russian government revealed that it had already sealed a deal with AstraZeneca and Oxford University for Russian manufacturing of the potential British vaccine (one of the leading contenders<\/a>), and claimed that it didn\u2019t need to \u201csteal\u201d state secrets because it would be given to them (Reuters<\/b>, 7\/17\/20<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The Times<\/b> report undermined its own headline when it admitted:<\/p>\n

American intelligence officials said the Russians were aiming to steal research to develop their own vaccine more quickly, not to sabotage other countries\u2019 efforts. There was likely little immediate damage to global public health, cybersecurity experts said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In other words, even if these allegations were true, Western governments have not been deprived of their research. The Times <\/b>fully admits that this alleged hacking would not harm US public health, but only the profits of US pharmaceutical companies:<\/p>\n

Private firms are more at risk than the public, said Mike Chapple, a former National Security Agency computer scientist who teaches cybersecurity at the University of Notre Dame.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe potential harm here is limited to commercial harm, to companies that are devoting a lot of their own resources into developing a vaccine in hopes it will be financially rewarding down the road,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Times <\/b>also acknowledged that:<\/p>\n

The accusations against Russia were also the latest example of an increasing willingness in recent months by the United States and its closest intelligence allies to publicly accuse foreign adversaries of breaches and cyberattacks\u2026. Attributing such attacks, however, is imprecise, an ambiguity that Moscow takes advantage of in denying responsibility, as it did Thursday.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Despite these acknowledgments, the Times <\/b>nevertheless echoed the certitude of \u201cAmerican experts,\u201d and anonymous government and intelligence officials, about Russian culpability and motives. The Times <\/b>simply asserted that \u201cthe Russian espionage\u201d signals \u201ca new kind of competition between Moscow and Washington akin to Cold War spies stealing technological secrets during the space race generations ago.\u201d Without providing any evidence, anonymous sources assert that Cozy Bear, an alleged Russian cyberespionage group \u201ccontrolled by Russia\u2019s elite SVR intelligence agency\u201d is trying to \u201cexploit the chaos created by the coronavirus pandemic<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the Times <\/b>admitting that US government officials \u201cwould not identify victims of the hackings,\u201d the paper speculated that the \u201cprimary target of the attacks appeared to be Oxford University in Britain and the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.\u201d Note that these are the same groups with whom the Russian government has already announced a deal to manufacture their potential vaccine.<\/p>\n

\"NYT:<\/p>\n

The New York Times<\/strong> (7\/21\/20<\/a>) writes that \u201cTrump administration officials\u2026have stepped up warnings in recent weeks about Chinese intelligence services and their campaign to steal information and influence American politics.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Days later, the New York<\/b> Times <\/b>(7\/21\/20<\/a>) produced another dubious report, \u201cUS Accuses Hackers of Trying to Steal Coronavirus Vaccine Data for China,\u201d which focused on a Justice Department indictment against suspects Li Xiaoyu and Dong Jiazhi, for \u201ctargeting vaccine development\u201d on behalf of Chinese intelligence. The Times<\/b> story, also by Barnes, described the pair as a \u201cblended threat who sometimes worked on behalf of China\u2019s spy services and sometimes to enrich themselves.\u201d Neither the Times<\/b>, nor the US government officials it cites as sources, establish a direct link between the suspects and Chinese intelligence agencies. Instead, the only indirect evidence provided is the kind of hacking the duo allegedly performed:<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can see by the variety of the hacks that they did how they were being directed by the government,\u201d Mr. Demers said at a news conference at the Justice Department. \u201cExtorting someone for cryptocurrency is not something that the government is usually interested in, nor are criminal hackers usually interested in human rights activists and clergymen.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

According to the Times<\/b>, Americans should care about this story because China\u2019s alleged \u201ccovert activity could potentially set back vaccine research efforts.\u201d The Times <\/b>openly admitted that the pair are \u201cunlikely to be brought to trial,\u201d where evidence is supposed to be presented in order to convict them of the accusations levied against them by the Justice Department, and that no evidence has been presented on whether these hackers actually \u201cstole\u201d any information, or whether they actually did set back US vaccine research efforts with their alleged activity:<\/p>\n

The indictment, which was filed in the Eastern District of Washington, did not say that the hackers successfully stole information or research on the vaccine\u2026. Mr. Demers said an attempted breach could slow down research because it must be secured, but researchers also must make sure their data has not been corrupted or altered by the intruders. The government officials did not say they had evidence that such manipulation had occurred, however.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Despite the lack of evidence establishing the Chinese government\u2019s guilt or impact, the Times <\/b>treats speculation by US government officials as \u201cevidence\u201d of the Chinese government\u2019s wrongdoing, when the report concludes with:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis indictment reveals yet again that Chairman Xi leads an army of hackers that steal and attempt to steal\u2014every single day, in almost every country and industry,\u201d Mr. Sasse said, referring to President Xi Jinping of China.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But focusing too much on whether or not Russian and Chinese hackers actually did try to hack US coronavirus vaccine research would be missing the point. Corporate media reports accuse China of stealing \u201cAmerican\u201d intellectual property, even though the vast majority of Americans don\u2019t own any, and would likely benefit<\/i> from China not respecting the intellectual property of corporations like Microsoft and Pfizer (FAIR.org<\/b>, 5\/23\/18<\/a>, 8\/27\/19<\/a>). Why anyone should care more about the potential inability of US corporations to profit off a coronavirus vaccine\u2014as opposed to getting an effective vaccine as soon as possible, no matter where the source is\u2014is never explained in these reports.<\/p>\n

As epidemiologists<\/a>, US academics<\/a> and FAIR (4\/2\/20<\/a>; CounterSpin<\/b>, 5\/9\/20<\/a>) have pointed out before, the optimal way to develop a coronavirus vaccine on the pace and scale required to combat the pandemic is through international cooperation and open research, which would both minimize risk and maximize efficiency. Current Affairs<\/b>\u2019s Nathan J. Robinson (7\/17\/20<\/a>) noted that corporate media hysteria over alleged enemy hacking is one of \u201cthe most egregious examples\u201d of \u201cnationalistic bias leading to moral imbecility\u201d:<\/p>\n

What\u2019s incredible is that nowhere in the stories is anybody quoted questioning the logic of viewing vaccine development as a \u201ccompetition.\u201d Nobody explains why researchers are keeping their research secret rather than sharing it as widely as possible. There is no discussion of how this constitutes a totally bizarre way to combat a global pandemic, which should not be a \u201crace to see which country can find a vaccine first so that it can force everyone else to pay up if they want to save their people\u2019s lives.\u201d\u2026 Let\u2019s have some moral honesty: The competitive approach is evil. It is criminal that any country is keeping vaccine information secret from other countries in the first place. That is mass murder.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One should expect corporate media outlets like the Times <\/b>to equate corporate interests with the US national interest. By spinning the intellectual property of large US corporations as something that must be safeguarded rather than something that should be shared, US media are failing to inform their audiences about how corporations are delaying the development of a vaccine\u2014and causing unnecessary deaths.<\/p>\n

____________________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Joshua Cho is a writer based in Virginia.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Go to Original – fair.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

28 Jul 2020 – One should expect corporate media outlets like the Times to equate corporate interests with the US national interest. By spinning the intellectual property of large US corporations as something that must be safeguarded rather than something that should be shared, US media are failing to inform their audiences about how corporations are delaying the development of a vaccine\u2014and causing unnecessary deaths.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":144648,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[867,244,1829,1868,1698,433,710,1855,234,1102,278,70,888,172],"class_list":["post-166087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-anglo-america","tag-china","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-epidemics","tag-europe","tag-health","tag-mainstream-media-msm","tag-media","tag-public-health","tag-russia","tag-usa","tag-vaccines","tag-west"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166087\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}