Poland’s ministry of digital affairs on Tuesday came out against what it said was a growing number of Russian cyberattacks, just one month ahead of the country’s presidential election.
Authorities in Poland, a staunch ally of neighbouring Ukraine, have warned in recent months that Moscow might seek to interfere with the May 18 election through cyberattacks and disinformation.
“Today we counted almost 2,000 incidents and the day is not over yet,” Krzysztof Gawkowski, Poland’s digital affairs minister, told news channel TVN24, adding that the uptick had begun at the start of the year.
“There are 60,000-70,000 attacks a month” of various sizes, he said, reiterating the view that Poland was “in cyberwar with Russia.”
According to Gawkowski, Russian services are trying to trigger “emotions and panic” by targeting public structures such as water and electricity distribution systems.
The minister said that Russian military intelligence was “trying to recruit agents of influence at all costs,” paying them between “3,000 and 4,000 euros ($3,300 to $4,500) for 10 days’ work, to spread disinformation.”
Gawkowski stressed that the government had rolled out several prevention measures to ramp up security ahead of the May 18 vote.
Earlier this month, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said his party’s computer system had been the target of a cyberattack, which he described as “foreign interference.”
In late March, French defense firm Thales said in a report that Russia was hitting Poland, Nordic and Baltic countries with an arsenal of cyber weapons aiming to sow divisions and promote anti-war messages.
