The head of GCHQ, the UK's cyber spy agency, has confirmed that the agency has been attacked by foreign agents attempting to steal the country's research on health-related issues, The Telegraph reports.
Jeremy Fleming, GCHQ head, said that both states and criminal elements were "going after things which are sensitive to us," adding that, "It's a high priority for us to protect the health sector [and] protect, particularly, the race to acquire a vaccine."
Although Fleming did not specify which "state" agents he thought were responsible, it was understood that he was referring to Russia, China, and Iran.
Several vaccine programs are currently underway in Great Britain, with one of them, led by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, hopeful that it may be able to produce as many as two billion doses by September.