Wednesday's cyberattack on the offices of MPs and PO members was carried out by groups from the Russian Federation and Belarus, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Affairs Krzysztof Gawkowski reported in Bydgoszcz on Thursday. He emphasized that the attack was organized and planned.
Gawkowski indicated that the state services are taking this attack extremely seriously. “We have confirmation that the action was not carried out by accident. (…) An attack, such an incident, can affect any political party, any state institution,” the deputy prime minister indicated. As he assessed, Russia wants to steal the elections from Poland and Poles. “They will not succeed,” he declared.
“The +electoral umbrella+ that we have created protects Poland and has good results. The +electoral umbrella+ is an undertaking that combines Polish services, ministries and institutions that are supposed to protect elections. The +electoral umbrella+ worked yesterday, when the Civic Platform was attacked, as reported by the head of PO, Prime Minister Donald Tusk. (…) The services are working on a thorough analysis of the entry vectors,” Gawkowski added.
As he pointed out, the good news is that in this case the services “are acting ruthlessly, excellently when it comes to detection and counteracting”.
“The Russian Federation – with its partners – will probably not stop there. We will notify the public about all such attacks – as I informed,” declared the Minister of Digital Affairs.
He added that all areas of operation of the “electoral umbrella” are to protect the state, democracy, and citizens so that their vote is counted correctly at the end.
“The attack on PO will be examined in detail. The matter is serious, and the people behind it will certainly be prosecuted by the Polish state. This is not the first information, the first attack that concerns election committees and candidates. We are in constant contact with candidates and committees. Various information is passed on to them. We protect the state so that no politician, no politician, no citizen is able to say today that the state does not support them in democratic processes and is not interested in the election process. We are in constant contact with the services,” said Gawkowski.
The Deputy Prime Minister was asked why information appeared about the attack on PO, while information about other attacks, which he mentioned at the conference, was not provided. “Some attacks fail, and some succeed. We are dealing with an attack that was successful. That is why it matters,” Gawkowski emphasized.
PAP asked the Minister of Digital Affairs whether the fact that the attack was “successful” means that data was stolen from the PO committee. “The operational activities in this case are conducted by state services. An investigation is ongoing in this case, so I cannot reveal more than I have presented today,” he added. He indicated that providing more details could make it more difficult to catch the perpetrator.
Asked by PAP what groups associated with Russia and Belarus these were, Gawkowski replied that the Polish services have identified groups that attack, have their modus operandi, their goals, and use similar programs.
“We are monitoring this on an ongoing basis. (…) We can decipher these methods and we can identify where these attacks are coming from,” he added. However, he indicated that he could not reveal more details about the services' method of operation.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk reported an attack on the PO's IT system. “Cyberattack on the Platform's IT system. Foreign interference in the elections has begun. Services indicate an eastern trace,” he wrote on the X platform. Gawkowski assured on Wednesday that “state services are working intensively in connection with the cybersecurity incident concerning the PO.” He stated then that the matter was serious and that all details would be provided on an ongoing basis.
Tomasz Więcławski, Jerzy Rausz (PAP)
twi/ rau/ par/
