Russian Arrested for Hacking Multiple Polish Companies, Suspected of Other Attacks in the EU

Polish authorities have arrested in Kraków a Russian national for allegedly breaching the security of multiple companies in Poland. 

According to prosecutors, the unnamed suspect repeatedly infiltrated a number of networks, bypassed existing protections and accessed databases in high-risk attacks that could be connected to other cyber operations across Europe.

How the authorities noticed something is wrong

Poland’s Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime (CBZC) discovered that a number of private-sector systems were under attack. Soon after, a Russian man living in Kraków was arrested in connection with these cyberattacks.

Minister Marcin Kierwiński confirmed on social media that the suspect had repeatedly infiltrated a number of Polish companies.

 “Officers of the @PolicjaCBZC in Kraków have detained a Russian citizen suspected of serious crimes involving unauthorized interference in the teleinformatics systems of Polish companies. He broke through their security measures to gain access to databases. Temporary arrest has been applied,” said Kierwiński.

What happened in Poland?

 According to the press release, this was not a one-time intrusion. The attacker had an excellent understanding of how to bypass multi-factor authentication security measures and how to operate inside protected systems without getting caught.

The evidence gathered by authorities points to unauthorized data access and data manipulation, at the very least. There’s also a good possibility that sensitive information could have been transferred or prepared for further exploitation.

While prosecutors haven’t yet said whether the man acted alone or on behalf of external entities, they did confirm that his activities could be connected to cyberattacks across Poland and possibly the European Union.

The man has been arrested for a period of three months. Initially, the suspect illegally crossed the Polish border in 2022 and obtained refugee status in 2023.