The hackers who steal hundreds of medical trial records from British coronavirus lab are based in Georgia and linked to the Kremlin and the Russian security services. The British edition Daily Mail published this information based on its own source.

According to the article, Hackers linked to Russia and Iran were behind ‘utterly reprehensible’ hits on British institutions tackling the virus, including universities and research labs.

According to the British edition, part of the hackers are operating in the territory of Georgia and this group is linked to the Kremlin and the Russian security services. The stolen information relates to thousands of British citizens taking part in medical trials of the anti-coronavirus drug and vaccine.

The London-based Hammersmith Medical Research (HMR) admitted that historic scans of passports, national insurance cards and visa documents, as well as patient photos, health questionnaires and medical history documents, were stolen on March 14.

The Maze group of hackers claimed responsibility for the attack and even published some of the medical records on the dark web, with the lab turning to Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre for help.

“It is understood that further investigation suggests the hackers responsible are based in Georgia and linked to the Kremlin and the Russian security services. One source claimed the hackers demanded £2 million for the return of data, but sickeningly offered the company a ‘discount’ if it found a cure for Covid-19.

HMR did not respond to a request for comment, but in a statement on its website said it was testing for Covid-19 for the NHS ‘free of charge’. No data directly relating to this testing has been stolen”, – the article reads.

According to British adition, the past few weeks have seen cyber attacks on this country, “the like of which even some of our most senior security officials have never seen”.