Poland builds cybersecurity defenses against Russian hackers

The Polish government plans to work with the public and private sectors to increase cybersecurity, amid the possibility of Russian hacking attacks. The Office of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he spoke with Microsoft President and Vice-chairman Brad Smith about how to prevent Russian interference with electoral results of Poland, the rest of Europe, and even the United States. Tusk and Smith also discussed security of other national security matters.

Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said last month that Poles could expect to see more Russian cyber attacks against the country, noting that hacker attacks against Polish infrastructure had already doubled this year. Several weeks ago, Polish security services saw an increasing number of attacks against critical infrastructure, Gawkowski said. He indicated that the attacks came from Russia and Belarus.

Have there been any visibly successful cyberattacks? The state-run media agency of Poland, called PAP, was hacked last month. The attack involved putting a report on the PAP website saying that Poland was mobilizing military forces inside its borders. Gawkowski quickly issued a statement saying the report was false and likely result of a hacking attack. PAP also acknowledged the existence of the hack in a later report.

Have Polish authorities arrested anyone in connection with any hacking or sabotage activities? Polish authorities, over the past six months, have reportedly arrested 18 Russian and Belarusian individuals for allegedly engaging in sabotage inside Polish borders.

Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said one of the people arrested had been involved in a plot to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to the Associated Press report. The sabotage activities the individuals engaged in included arson, destruction of railroad tracks, and spying on Polish Baltic Sea ports, according to the report.

Dig deeper: Read Lauren Canterberry’s report in WORLD Magazine about U.S. authorities’ crackdown on a ransomware hacking group.