Janusz Cieszyński and fellow officials from Central and Eastern Europe held talks in Warsaw with Anne Neuberger, Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology in US President Joe Biden’s administration, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
The discussion focused on the standoff between Russia and the West over Ukraine and ways to protect telecoms infrastructure against cyberattacks.
All participants agreed on the need for closer cooperation, Cieszyński said.
“We discussed mainly the events in Ukraine as well as what should be monitored and how when it comes to Poland-based infrastructure,” he added.
“We also talked about how to work together on projects designed to boost resilience to cyberattacks,” Cieszyński told reporters.
The Polish Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement that those taking part in the meeting recognised "the need for swift and effective exchange of information, especially on incidents involving critical infrastructure, and close technological and political cooperation."
Neuberger said the talks were crucial for creating deeper mutual trust, which would allow for more efficient action, the statement added.
Meanwhile, Cieszyński noted that last month, after cyberattacks in Ukraine, Poland raised its nationwide cybersecurity terror threat level, the IAR news agency reported.
“It was a warning to entities which maintain the country’s most important systems, to check them in view of the attacks which occurred in Ukraine,” Cieszyński said.
"This has been achieved and implemented, but I believe that now every company should take special care to protect all of its systems,” he added.
In addition to Cieszyński and Neuberger, Thursday’s partly virtual meeting was attended by officials from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Romania, according to the IAR news agency.
They agreed to meet for further consultations at a later date, IAR reported.
Afterwards, Neuberger also met with members of Poland’s cybersecurity services to discuss bilateral cooperation, and with foreign ministry officials to talk about trust-building measures available through the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Polish Prime Minister's Office said.
Poland this year holds the rotating chairmanship of the OSCE.
Cyberattack on Ukraine
Last month's cyberattack against Kyiv hit around 70 government websites, according to the Reuters news agency.
Hackers posted disinformation messages in Ukrainian, Russian and Polish, while also cutting off access to a mobile application that offers citizens digital versions of official documents such as ID cards.
Ukrainian and Polish security services believe the attack was most likely carried out by Russia, the IAR news agency reported.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR