Article: Protecting the Protection

ODSecurity to Provide Protection of COVID-19 Vaccine

1st of March 2021 – by Karen Kingham

The world has long waited for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, and all hopes of controlling it are pinned on the various vaccines that are currently being distributed to medical centres, and institutions the world over.

CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS PLAN TO INFILTRATE OR DISRUPT SUPPLY CHAINS

It is the very nature, scale and complexity of the manufacture, storage and distribution of the vaccines to different parts of the world, that presents the risk of corruption.

Indeed, Jürgen Stock, INTERPOL Secretary General has warned, “As governments are preparing to roll out vaccines, criminal organizations are planning to infiltrate or disrupt supply chains.”

To date we have already witnessed cyber-attacks and phishing scams. In December 2020, IBM X-Force and CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) warned of malicious cyber actors targeting the COVID-19 cold chain—an integral part of delivering and storing a vaccine at safe temperatures. Cyber actors were also sending phishing and spear phishing emails to executives and global organizations involved in vaccine storage and transport to harvest account credentials.

BUT THE THREAT IS NOT SIMPLY LIMITED TO DATA

In January 2021, a bomb squad was called to bio-pharmaceutical company Wockhardt in the UK where a fill-finish production line for the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine operates. The item was made safe. 

And then there are the opportunistic thieves; in Florida, USA a former “Paramedic of the Year” was charged with helping a supervisor steal three vials of the Moderna vaccine containing 10 doses each. These were meant for firefighters. In New York, a health network may have fraudulently obtained the vaccine. Elsewhere, a car was stolen with 30 temperature sensitive vials of vaccine inside. 

And these situations are occurring all over the world. INTERPOL has already issued a global alert to law enforcement across its 194 member countries warning them to prepare for organized crime networks targeting COVID-19 vaccines, both physically and online.

But it is not only theft and disruption that can cause a threat to the distribution of these vital vaccines. There is unfortunately also opportunistic insider theft.

USING THE SOTER RS X-RAY FULL BODY SCANNER TO PROTECT VACCINES

With the above as a background, it is not any wonder that a pharmaceutical company has asked ODSecurity, manufacturers of the world renowned SOTER body scanner to investigate the possibility of installing a body scanner within their warehouse environment. The name or location of said warehouse cannot be disclosed due to security & privacy reasons.

The Soter RS Body Scanner is widely used within detention centres, custodial and airport security environments, and is acknowledged as a leader in body scanning technology. 

It combines ultra-low radiation with maximum visibility and is extremely simple and fast.  This scanner can identify ANY foreign material being smuggled, whether it is hidden on, or inside the human body. 

Equally the Soter RS can be used to scan visitors and staff, ensuring the security of the facility from any potential external threats. 

Mr van der Veen of ODSecurity commented;

“We have long known that the Soter RS body scanner would be of benefit to other industries, and we are very proud to have been chosen for this project.”