Poland is a safe country: Digital Pattern
Poland is considered a safe country for citizens and stable for business, although the number of cyber threats has been increasing since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. Cybersecurity of Poles, the fight against disinformation and the development of digital services – these are the main topics of the debate “Development of the IT sector in Poland: Cybersecurity and the fight against disinformation” at the Ministry of Digital Affairs, which took place on September 12.
The debate was attended by: Adam Andruszkiewicz – Secretary of State at the Ministry of Digitization, Michał Kanownik – President of the Management Board of the Digital Poland Association and Mateusz Mrozek – Director of the Cyberspace Information Protection Division at NASK. The debate was moderated by economic journalist Karol Wasilewski.
Starting point: attacks on railway infrastructure
– I want to reassure everyone. We are in constant contact with our services, the Ministry of Infrastructure, and railway companies. Polish passengers are not in any danger, said Adam Andruszkiewicz, noting that the incidents were not cyber attacks. However, all threats are under constant monitoring. – Especially now, during the war in Ukraine. The Russian Federation is interested in the potential destabilization of the Polish state, through which aid to Ukraine flows.
The outbreak of the conflict resulted in the appearance of disinformation in the Polish media space.
– For example, we have seen a flood of appeals on the Internet to buy fuel en masse because it will be taken away soon. We saw accounts linked to Russia distributing money transfers to withdraw cash from ATMs, because there won’t be any, said Minister Andruszkiewicz.
This action caused queues at stations and banks in some places. The situation has calmed down, but the question remains – is there an effective way to combat this type of activities? It deals with, among others, NASK, represented during the meeting by Mateusz Mrozek.
– We cooperate with online platforms to remove harmful content in accordance with generally applicable law and website regulations. It is fair to say that we have some work to do in the area of regulation. For us, prevention and counteracting what we observe online are key. – explained director Mateusz Mrozek.
Michał Kanownik, president of the management board of the Digital Poland Association, talked about the impact of disinformation on business.
– One of the goals that the services using disinformation in Poland, among others, want to achieve is destabilization. This affects the perception of Poland as a place to invest. Any situation of this type causes anxiety, so the more stable it is, the better the business climate. Despite the threats that have been emerging for two years, we are considered a safe place for business.
New challenges will ensure safety
He emphasized that cybersecurity is a challenge for the government, local government, business and every citizen. When all parts of this ecosystem are aware of their role and involvement in cybersecurity, only then can we talk about success.
During the debate, there were, among others: issues related to network hygiene, which include two-factor authentication and avoiding random Wi-Fi networks. The topic of intensive development of digital services in the mObywatel application was also discussed.
– Today we can be a model for richer countries in this respect. Poland is becoming the largest European Union country with such advanced solutions. This is evidenced by the popularization of the trusted profile and the development of the mObywatel application, which equates many digital documents with traditional ones – argued Adam Andruszkiewicz.
The entire debate can be viewed: https://www.facebook.com/MinisterstwoCyfryzacji/videos/1233382417328458
