Poland warns of surge in Russian cyberattacks on critical infrastructure
Poland is facing an unprecedented wave of cyberattacks, much of it traced to Russian military intelligence, according to the country’s digital affairs minister, Krzysztof Gawkowski. He told Reuters that Russia has tripled its cyber resources directed at Poland this year, targeting sectors vital to national security.
Of the 170,000 cyber incidents recorded in the first nine months of 2025, a “significant portion” was attributed to Russian state-linked actors, while the rest involved financially motivated cybercrime. Poland now faces 2,000–4,000 attacks daily, of which 700–1,000 pose real threats to key infrastructure, Gawkowski said.
The minister noted that Russian groups are expanding their focus beyond water and sewage systems to include energy networks, and warned that the activity is becoming more coordinated and sophisticated. “Russian activity is the most severe because it targets infrastructure essential to maintaining normal life,” he said.
A major escalation occurred on September 10, when a cyberattack coincided with a Russian drone strike, marking Poland’s largest coordinated digital assault since the start of the Ukraine war in 2022. False claims spread online that Ukraine had launched the drones, amplified by bot networks that had been dormant for years before suddenly reactivating.
Warsaw officials say Poland has become Russia’s top cyber target within NATO, due to its support for Kyiv and its strategic role in supplying Ukraine. The Russian embassy in Warsaw did not respond to requests for comment but has consistently denied involvement in cyber operations.
