Poland has announced a record increase in its cyber security budget, underscoring the scale of the threats facing the country as it sits on the front line of European security. With attempted sabotage operations now a daily reality, Warsaw is treating cyber resilience as a matter of national survival, and the lessons are clear for security professionals worldwide.

A Surge in Attacks

According to the Financial Times, Poland now faces between 20 and 50 attempted cyber sabotage operations every day, the majority linked to Russia backed groups. While most are thwarted, some have succeeded, with hospitals forced offline for hours and sensitive medical data exposed. The Polish government confirms that they will raise cyber spending from €600 million in 2024 to €1 billion this year.

The attacks have not been limited to digital targets. Last month, a Russian backed group attempted to shut down the water supply of a major Polish city, Kielce, successfully breaching the IT network before being stopped short of cutting access to residents. An additional €80 million has now been allocated to harden the cyber defences of water systems and other critical services, including infrastructure across Poland’s 2,400 local administrations.

A Blurred Line Between Cyber and Physical Security 

Poland’s experience illustrated a reality that many security leaders are already grappling with the line between cyber and physical security has all but disappeared. When attackers compromise healthcare systems or urban utilities, the impacts are not limited to data breaches, they strike at public health, safety and confidence.

This was echoed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who confirmed that a drone was neutralised over central Warsaw near government buildings, while Polish and NATO aircraft were forced to intercept 19 Russian drones crossing Polish airspace.

Taken together, the cyber sabotage attempts and physical drone incursions show how multi-domain threats are converging and why governments, businesses, and international alliances must respond in kind.

Global Implications

The UN has warned that “reckless” actions, including GPS jamming from Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave, are creating wider risks. Western intelligence services believe such jamming was behind an incident in 2024 that disrupted the flight of the UK’s then Defence Secretary Grant Shapps returning from Poland. According to Standerski, Poland recorded up to 30 jamming incidents in the past year alone.

These developments place Poland at the epicentre of a security environment that is increasingly hybrid in nature: cyber security, electronic warfare, drone incursions and disinformation are not isolated incidents, but interconnected tactics designed to destabilase and test resilience.

Lessons for Security Leaders

For security professionals and business leaders, Poland’s situation offers several critical insights:

• Investing at Scale: Poland’s record €1bn cyber budget demonstrates the need for proportional investment in line with threat levels. Security teams elsewhere should be ready to make the same case to their boards
• Defending the Essentials: Hospitals and water supplies are not traditional “IT targets” but attackers understand the disruptive potential. Protecting critical services must be central to resilience strategies
• Bridging Physical and Cyber: The Warsaw drone incidents highlight that the physical and digital are inseparable. Security operations centres and physical security teams need tighter integration
• Collaboration Matters: Poland’s response is strengthened by NATO and EU support. Similarly, businesses should seek partnerships, intelligence sharing and collective defence approaches

Looking Ahead

Poland’s experience should not be seen as a distant concern, but as a preview of the future threat landscape. In a world where drones, AI powered attacks, GPS jamming and critical infrastructure sabotage can unfold simultaneously, no organisation is immune.

The takeaway for our community is clear: security is global, interconnected and urgent. Wherever you are in the world, resilience will depend on investment, innovation, and above all, collaboration.