LONDON - Europe's medicines regulator said on Wednesday it was the target of a cyberattack and it was investigating the incident with help from law enforcement.

The European Medicines Agency - which is responsible for assessing and approving medicines, medical devices and vaccines for the European Union - gave no further details about the attack.

"EMA cannot provide additional details whilst the investigation is ongoing. Further information will be made available in due course," it said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear when or how the attack took place, who was responsible or what, if any, data was compromised.

But hacking attempts against healthcare and medical organisations have intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic as attackers ranging from state-backed spies to cyber criminals scramble to obtain the latest information about the outbreak.

Reuters has previously documented how hackers linked to North Korea, Iran, Vietnam, China and Russia have on separate occasions been accused of trying to steal information about the virus and its potential treatments.

  - Reuters