IT systems of Tusk's party hit by cyberattack, his aide says
The IT systems of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Civic Platform (PO) party have been hit by a cyberattack as Poland braces for the presidential election on May 18, Tusk's chief aide has said citing foreign interference.
Jan Grabiec, the head of Prime Minister's office, told PAP on Wednesday that "according to information from authorised agencies dealing with protection and cybersecurity," the attack consisted of an attempt to take control over the computers of both the employees of the PO office and of the election staff.
He said there was specific data indicating a modus operandi used by services from the East.
Earlier in the day, Tusk wrote on the X platform: "Cyberattack on the [Civic] Platform's IT system. Foreign interference in the elections has begun. The [security] services indicate an eastern trace."
Grabiec later told PAP that the attack had taken place "in the last several hours" and was "an attempt to take control over these computers and gain the ability to monitor all content externally, or possibly generate content via these computers."
He described the cyberattack as "quite dangerous."
Grabiec added that the attack was not limited to the PO website and its content, but targeted above all "the systems used by the Civic Platform, the election staff... for the election campaign". He said that computers were attacked via the network, so the attack concerned "computers located in different places, but targeted people who cooperate within the PO structures."
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