A ransomware attack has hit eResearchTechnology, a medical software company that supplies pharma companies with tools for conducting clinical trials – including trials for COVID-19 vaccines. The attackers could be financially motivated — or could be backed by a nation-state looking to gain competitive advantage, researchers speculated.
According to reports, the cyberattack on the Philadelphia company has slowed down those trials over the past two weeks, as researchers were forced to switch to pen and paper for tracking patient data.
ERT on its website notes that its software is being used globally in drug trials, and that it was involved in tracking 75 percent of drug-approval trials run by the FDA last year. It hasn’t disclosed how many of its customers have been affected by the ransomware attack, or which ransomware strain is responsible.
However, according to the New York Times, which
broke the story over the weekend, IQVIA and Bristol Myers Squibb were both caught up in the incident. The former is a contractor helping with AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine trial, and the latter drug-maker is heading up a collaborative effort to develop a better rapid test for the virus.
Both told the outlet that thanks to data backups, the impact of the attack was limited. Other ERT customers however weren’t so lucky, according to the Times.
Drew Bustos, ERT’s vice president of marketing, has confirmed to media that the attacks started on Sept. 20, after which systems were taken offline. The company is now in recovery mode he said, and the threat is “contained,” so ERT is slowly bringing systems back into operation.
Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, both of which are working on a COVID-19 vaccine, announced that their trials weren’t impacted by the attack. IQVIA meanwhile issued a statement noting, “We are not aware of any confidential data or patient information, related to our clinical trial activities, that have been removed, compromised or stolen.”
threatpost.com
