Poland Expects More Cyberattacks on Government Platforms

The Polish government and the nation’s payment clearinghouse have experienced more cyberattacks recently, the federal chief of cybersecurity said Friday (Feb. 25), Reuters reported.

In a broadcast on Polskie Radio, the country’s public service radio broadcasting organization, Janusz Cieszynski said law enforcement had not identified the source of the attacks, according to the report.

“The website of the [Polish] national clearing system, and servers dedicated to the government email network have been attacked,” he said, per the report. “The attacks are being monitored… It’s too early to assign authorship of these attacks.”

These cybercrimes arrived as Russia has launched an invasion of Ukraine, Poland’s eastern neighbor.

In a separate interview, Wojciech Dabrowski, CEO of PGE, the country’s power utility, told listeners that his company’s IT networks had been attacked, the report stated. But he noted they are safe, and supply of heat and electricity has not been interrupted.

Poland increased its cybersecurity alert position Monday (Feb. 21). The designation requires operators of critical infrastructures to keep a close eye on their systems, according to the report.

Ukraine has also been dealing with cyberattacks recently that Kyiv has blamed on Russia. But Moscow has denied any involvement in the attacks.

Earlier this month, as tension mounted between Russia and the Ukraine, the European Central Bank (ECB) warned financial institutions (FIs) of a possible Soviet cyberattack.

Read more: Regulators Warn Banks to Prepare for a Russian Cyberattack

The ECB, headed by former French Minister Christine Lagarde, has been on alert for any cyberattacks on banks launched from Russia.

The regulator was already focused on scams that accelerated since the onset of the pandemic. But the crisis in Ukraine has diverted its attention to these potential attacks from Russia.

As a result of the potential threats, European banks have been conducting cyber tests to gauge their ability to fight an attack.