03 March 2021

Hackers breached the biomedical systems of an Oxford University laboratory doing vital research into Covid, it has confirmed.

The Division of Structural Biology, known as Strubi, had been hit by a cyber attack but stressed that its clinical studies had not been compromised. GCHQ's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has been alerted and will assist with an investigation. However, Strubi is not behind the successful Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine - created by the university's Jenner Institute.

An Oxford University spokesperson said: "We have identified and contained the problem and are now investigating further. There has been no impact on any clinical research, as this is not conducted in the affected area. As is standard with such incidents, we have notified the National Cyber Security Centre and are working with them."

The attack on Strubi - known to be a world-leading laboratory carrying out research on Covid cells - is understood to have been infiltrated on February 13 and 14.