Poland raises cybersecurity terror threat level following attack in Ukraine

Poland on Tuesday raised its nationwide cybersecurity threat level in response to the cyberattack on the Ukrainian government last week.

Poland’s Ministry of Digital Affairs said this alert level will remain in place until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, according to Reuters.

“The introduction of this alert level means that public administration will be obliged to conduct increased monitoring of the security of ICT systems. It is due to the possibility of a possible security breach of electronic communications,” the ministry said.

On Saturday, dozens of computers linked to the Ukrainian government were infected with malware, making the systems inoperable.

“These systems span multiple government, non-profit, and information technology organizations, all based in Ukraine,” Microsoft, which announced the breach, said. 

Serhiy Demedyuk, the deputy secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defense council, told Reuters that one hacker linked to the Belarusian government — UNC1151 — may have been behind the malware attack.

“We believe preliminarily that the group UNC1151 may be involved in this attack,” said Demedyuk.

Ukrainian authorities also directly blamed Russia for being behind the attack, accusing its neighbor to the east of waging a “hybrid war.”

“Moscow continues to wage a hybrid war and is actively building up its forces in the information and cyberspaces,” the Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Development said.

Russian aggression toward Ukraine has escalated in recent months, with roughly 100,000 Russian soldiers believed to have amassed at the Ukrainian border, leading to concerns that an invasion may be imminent.