The authorities in Warsaw will increase spending on cybersecurity, from 600 million euros to one billion. The decision comes after Polish hospitals and the water supply system in a city were targeted by Russian hackers, reports IPN.
State secretary at the ministry for digital affairs Dariusz Standerski told The Financial Times that Poland repels up to 50 sabotage attempts daily, mainly targeting critical infrastructure. The official assured that most of the attacks are intercepted, but recently, hackers managed to paralyze the work of hospitals for several hours and steal medical data.
According to Standerski, in August, hackers attempted to disrupt the water supply of a major city in Poland. It was one of the biggest cyber attacks from February 2022 until now.
Local authorities in Poland say that the country is the most frequent target of Russian cyber attacks in the European Union, but that 99% of them are repelled.
In the meantime, the Minister for Digital Affairs, Krzysztof Gawkowski, has reported that Moscow has increased GPS jamming in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, and that Warsaw has recorded up to 30 incidents during flights over the past year.
Last week, Polish airspace was overflown by 19 Russian drones, which were subsequently shot down by Allied forces. Last night prime minister Donald Tusk reported that the Polish military had intercepted a drone flying over government buildings in Warsaw. In the latest case, police detained two Belarusian citizens.