Protecting COVID IP From Cyber-Spies

The scientific community has been invaluable in the fight against COVID-19. Companies, universities, hospitals and research institutes worldwide have increased their research efforts to try to find effective diagnostic assays and treatments for this virus. Governments have also stepped up and provided increased funding for COVID-19 related R&D. Unfortunately, these noble research efforts are at an increased risk for cybersecurity breaches according to central intelligence agencies in many countries including the FBI in the United States as well as both of Canada's central intelligence agencies. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) have reported that the pandemic "presents an elevated level of risk to the cyber security of Canadian health organizations involved in the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic." In a joint statement earlier this month, the two agencies warned that the Intellectual