THE EUROPEAN MEDICINES Agency (EMA) says it has been targeted in a cyber attack.

The Amsterdam-based agency, which is evaluating requests for conditional marketing authorisation for coronavirus vaccines, says it has launched a full investigation in close co-operation with law enforcement and other entities.

The EMA declined to provide more details of the attack while the investigation was continuing. It would not be the first time an entity linked with coronavirus vaccines has been targeted by cybercriminals.

Last month, Microsoft said it had detected attempts by state-backed Russian and North Korean hackers to steal valuable data from leading pharmaceutical companies and vaccine researchers.

Microsoft said most of the targets – located in Canada, France, India, South Korea and the United States – were “directly involved in researching vaccines and treatments for Covid-19″.

It did not name the targets but said most had vaccine candidates in various stages of clinical trials.