Polish railway cyberattack

The Polish railway cyberattack is a series of suspected sabotage attempts in August 2023 aimed at the Polish State Railways.

Method
The "radio stop" command system has a vulnerability - when a certain three tonal signal is transmitted through the railway radio network, trains stop automatically.

Friday 25 August
At 9:23 pm on two sections of line near Szczecin a stop signal was broadcast by an unknown person. It affected more than 20 trains and freight traffic was stopped as a precaution. Services were restored within hours.

Saturday 26 August
Around 6pm near Gdynia a second incident took place - a freight train was also affected later that evening.

Sunday 27 August
Trains near Białystok were affected by fake stop signals. Five passenger trains and one freight train were stopped. Two men were arrested in connection with the disruption near Białystok. One suspect is a police officer. Prosecutors opened an investigation.

Monday 28 August
Police in Białystok announced they had begun a dismissal procedure against the officer arrested on Sunday. Sixteen people have been arrested as suspects in spying for Russia.

Investigation
The disruptions are being investigated both by police and intelligence organisations, including the Internal Security Agency.

Some of the disruptive signals included the Russian anthem and part of a speech by Vladimir Putin.