Poland will strengthen its national cybersecurity after facing a large data breach.
On May 19, the Polish national news company, PAP, faced a cyberattack from what researchers believe was a Russian-backed hacking group. The attack caused a misleading article to appear on their home page, spreading misinformation. The claim was that Prime Minister Donald Tusk would mobilize 200,000 Polish soldiers to join the Ukrainian war.
“Everything indicates that we are dealing with a cyberattack that was directed from the Russian side,” said Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski.
Poland claims that Russia has been frequently targeting their nation with aggressive cyberattacks to disrupt its activity in aiding the Ukraine war that Russia. In response, Poland is heavily investing in its cybersecurity defense systems.
“We want to allocate over 3 billion zlotys for a ‘Cyber Shield’,” explained Gawkowski in a press release. “Today, Poland is on the frontline of the cyber fight against Russia. Poland has the most attacks.”
Poland also declared that it would re-establish a commission to investigate Russian cyber influences, pointing to Russia’s aggressive cyber activities. Gawkowski described multiple instances of Russian attacks on critical infrastructure that they already blocked.
“The Russian Federation has one goal, to destabilize the situation and ensure that the forces supporting the breakup of the EU can benefit,” Gawkowski said.
Since the attack, the news company stated that they identified the source of the problem and fixed it.
The investments come alongside a crackdown on criminals with ties to Russia. Recently, Polish authorities arrested 18 individuals under accusation of colluding with Russia to sabotage Poland. One of the 18 suspects had even planned an assassination attempt on Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
They also arrested arson suspects with links to Russian-state-sponsored hacking groups.
Poland feels that the nationwide clampdown on Polish cybersecurity should make it safer for both the average citizen surfing the web and the government itself.