Russian Hackers Targeted Poland’s Power Grid in Failed Cyberattack Effort

Warsaw: Researchers say Russian government hackers tried to knock out parts of Poland’s energy grid. This happened in December. The hackers targeted two heat and power plants and tried to mess with the links between renewable energy sources, like wind turbines, and the power operators.

Polish Energy Minister Milosz Motyka said this was the “strongest attack” on Poland’s energy system in years. He added that the attack could have left over 500,000 homes without heat or power.

A cybersecurity company named ESET looked into the attack. They found a dangerous type of software called DynoWiper. This malware can ruin data on computers so they won’t work again. ESET linked the malware to a Russian hacking group called Sandworm. This group is part of Russia’s military intelligence and has caused problems in Ukraine’s energy sector before.

Interestingly, this attack on Poland happened almost ten years after Sandworm first attacked Ukraine’s energy system. That attack knocked out power for over 230,000 homes in Kyiv. After the attempted hack, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed that their cybersecurity worked well, and no critical services were in danger.