Cyber attackers have targeted the cold supply chain needed to deliver Covid-19 vaccines, reports Financial Times (Dec. 3, 2020). The hackers appeared to be trying to disrupt or steal information about the vital processes to keep vaccines cold as they travel from factories to hospitals and doctors’ offices. The attacks highlight the importance of cyber security diligence at each step in the vaccine supply chain.
Many of the Covid-19 vaccines have to be kept cold to keep them from spoiling. Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine must be kept between -70C and -80C, while Moderna’s needs to be transported at minus 20C.
IBM’s head of threat intelligence said he believed the hackers were either looking to disrupt the vaccine delivery process or steal intellectual property. “One side of it is cyber espionage: How do you get vaccines out? How is the manufacturing process working for refrigeration? How are you managing the entire logistics chain? There’s also potential for disruption, being able to launch attacks that disrupt vaccines, and their distribution to undermine trust in them.” He added that it was vital to treat the vaccine supply chain as “a new type of global critical infrastructure” to help them secure the products that could help end the pandemic. “These refrigeration companies are not going to have the same security tools that advanced financial institutions have.”
No matter who conducted the attacks, they underscore how everything about coronavirus vaccines — how to make them, test them and move them — has become vital information around the globe. A year ago, nations including Russia and China were focusing their covert efforts on stealing secrets about missiles and AI advances; 6 months ago, intelligence agencies shifted their focus to obtaining, or defending, proprietary vaccine research.
Classroom discussion questions:
- List all of the major risks that vaccine supply chains face. ( Hint: see Table 11.3 on p. 480 of your Heizer/Render/Munson OM text).
- Which of the 10 OM decisions (that the text is structured around in Table 1.2) are involved in vaccine preparation and delivery?