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# FDA Cybersecurity Incidents Counted
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/fda-cybersecurity-incidents-counted/
- Published: 2016-02-16T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-15T02:35:56.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: FDA Policy/General, #legacy-id-D5134771

> FDA reported 1,036 cybersecurity incidents between 1/2013 and 6/2015, according to a *Federal Times* [report](http://www.federaltimes.com/story/government/cybersecurity/2016/02/16/hack-fda/80408670/?ref=fdaweb.com) based on information obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. Some 50% of the incidents were attributed to unauthorized access, while 21% were scans, probes, or attempted access, and 19% were malicious code discovered on FDA systems.  
>  
> The article says that while the threat vectors track closely to what is happening at most HHS agencies, the likely reasons behind the hacks are unique to FDA.  
>  
> “There has been a huge amount of hacking in the pharmaceutical world,” says DRI International president **Al Berman** in the article. “One of the reasons this is being done is for stock manipulation. If you can find out where somebody is in the testing phase for a drug … if you can figure out where they are in the cycle or how well it’s going, I think that’s tremendous information, with different reasons than any other hack you’ve seen.”  
>  
> Information security officials at HHS agencies are very aware of the sensitivity of the data they protect, according to HHS cybersecurity official **Leo Scanlon**. He told *Federal Times* that the department uses threat data to build a profile of how agencies such as FDA are being attacked and then develop a response in kind.