An investigation has been launched into a cyberattack on the Polish News Agency (PAP), the Warsaw Prosecutor’s Office said on Saturday.
The Internal Security Agency (ABW) has been tasked with conducting the probe.
In the attack in late May, hackers infiltrated PAP’s internal systems, publishing a false report claiming that the government had ordered a mobilization of 200,000 men to be deployed to Ukraine. Despite immediate removal, the fake news reappeared shortly afterward, causing significant concern.
A spokesperson for the Prosecutor’s Office detailed the inquiry focuses on “disinformation by disseminating false information… by undetermined persons involved in or acting on behalf of foreign intelligence.”
Conviction carries a minimum eight-year prison sentence.
PAP CEO Marek Błoński condemned the attack, linking it to an effort to spread disinformation ahead of the European elections.
“We are committed to clarifying the issue in collaboration with the appropriate state services”, he said.
“Everything indicates that we are dealing with a cyberattack directed by the Russians,”Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski stated following the attack.
“We are at cyberwar with Russia”, he added.
He also mentioned a series of previously thwarted cybersecurity incidents targeting Poland’s critical infrastructure.
Polish media outlets on several occasions have reported on the country’s frequent targeting by Russian hackers, with over 1,400 weekly attacks on Polish companies.
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Source: PAP