The cybersecurity forces in Poland have recently stopped a devastating attack that would have deficient thousands of people in a large metropolitan region, lacking water. The recent increase in attacks on the critical infrastructure within Europe is an indication of the rise in digital warfare actions against civilian infrastructures as malicious parties look to gain a competitive advantage. Never before have the stakes in national security been at stake in the sense that cyberattacks are becoming more intelligent and are now targeting critical services. Read the details as we unearth this foiled attack and its implications.
Poland successfully defended against this critical infrastructure attack
A large Polish city could have had its water supply cut off on Wednesday as a result of a cyberattack, a deputy prime minister said after the intrusion was foiled.
In an interview with news portal Onet on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski, who is also digital affairs minister, did not specify who was behind the attack or which city was targeted.
Poland has said that its role as a hub for aid to Ukraine makes it a target for Russian cyberattacks and acts of sabotage. Gawkowski has described Poland in the past as the “main target” for Russia among NATO countries.
Gawkowski told Onet that the cyberattack could have meant there would be no water in one of Poland’s big cities.
“At the last moment we managed to see to it that when the attack began, our services had found out about it and we shut everything down. We managed to prevent the attack.”
He said Poland manages to thwart 99% of cyberattacks.
Water systems become prime targets for nation-state hackers
Security experts highlight that quick response protocols helped the authorities to detect and quash the threat even before causing any form of damage to the water distribution network. Monitoring systems installed in critical infrastructure in Poland on the national level enabled cybersecurity teams to identify suspect events in several minutes after the initial intrusion attack.
Gawkowski last year that Poland would spend over 3 billion zlotys ($800 million) to boost cybersecurity after the state news agency PAP was hit by what authorities said was likely to have been a Russian cyberattack.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who has warned that Russia is trying to drive a wedge between Warsaw and Kyiv, said that a young Ukrainian man had been detained for acts of sabotage on behalf of foreign intelligence services, including writing graffiti insulting Poles.
What does this mean for other European cities facing similar threats?
Attacks on critical infrastructure are an emerging issue related to security threats since the opponents strive to cause damage to civilian lives and erode the trust of the population in the government’s potential to defend it. Water purification plants and water supply infrastructures are optimal targets due to the direct effect of their interruption on the daily lives of millions of citizens.
PAP reported on Thursday that a 17-year-old Ukrainian man detained, among other things, for desecrating a monument to Poles killed by Ukrainian nationalists in World War Two has been charged with participating in an organised criminal group aimed at committing crimes against Poland.
This defense shows how active cybersecurity asset investments can guard critical infrastructure against advanced attacks against the civilian population. The fact that Poland identified the threat and eliminated it in several minutes testifies to the efficiency of the contemporary monitoring system and quick-reaction measures shaped by years of collaboration with other countries. With the increasing involvement of cyber warfare in Europe, this incident acts as a form of a warning as well as a blueprint to other countries that encounter the same threats to their lifelines as a nation.
GCN.com/Reuters