**Russia’s Shadowy Hackers Strike Again: Attempted Power Grid Hack in Poland**
Just when you thought it was safe to turn on the lights again, cybersecurity experts have uncovered evidence that Russia’s notorious Sandworm hackers were behind a brazen attempt to disrupt Poland’s power grid back in December. The good news is that the country’s top-notch cybersecurity defenses foiled the attack, but the implications are still unsettling.
According to ESET, the same security firm that took down the infamous WannaCry ransomware, the malicious attack employed a type of “wiper” malware designed to trash data and render computer systems useless. The hackers targeted two heat and power plants, as well as communication links between renewable energy installations and power distribution operators. If successful, the attack could have left half a million households in the dark.
Poland’s Power Minister, Milosz Motyka, has dubbed this incident the “strongest attack” on the country’s energy infrastructure in years. The attack bears a striking resemblance to a series of cyberattacks that hit Ukraine’s power grid in 2015 and 2016, leading to widespread power outages.
The fact that Sandworm, a unit within Russia’s GRU intelligence agency, was behind the attack is no surprise. This shadowy group has been linked to a string of high-profile cyberattacks, including the 2015 hack on Ukraine’s energy sector.
While the attack was thwarted, the incident serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing threat of cyberattacks on critical infrastructure. As our reliance on digital technologies grows, so too does the risk of these types of attacks. The world needs to stay vigilant and take proactive measures to protect our infrastructure from these nefarious actors.
Stay tuned for further updates on this developing story, and don’t miss our related article on the tech side of things: [Researchers Say Russian Government Hackers Were Behind Attempted Poland Power Outage] (https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/23/researchers-say-russian-government-hackers-were-behind-attempted-poland-power-outage/)
**Related topics:**
* Cybersecurity
* Critical infrastructure
* Power grid
* Russia
* Ukraine
