Poland Officials Drop Signal Over Hacking Threats

Poland Orders Government Switch Away from Signal Amid Targeted Cyber Campaign

Warsaw has instructed civil servants to abandon the encrypted messaging platform Signal in favor of domestically controlled alternatives, as sophisticated foreign hackers linked to hostile state intelligence services intensify attacks on Polish government accounts, according to Brussels Signal.

Krzysztof Gawkowski, Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Affairs, issued the directive following a sustained pattern of phishing operations targeting state officials. The campaigns employ deceptive tactics, with attackers impersonating Signal’s technical support team to manipulate users into clicking malicious links under false claims of account suspension threats.

National Cybersecurity Response

Poland’s Computer Security Incident Response Teams have documented escalating threats posed by “technically sophisticated APT groups linked to the intelligence services of hostile states.” The government warned that successful account breaches expose classified government communications to foreign intelligence collection.

In response, Warsaw has promoted two state-operated platforms as replacements. mSzyfr, a newly launched encrypted messaging application managed by Poland’s national research institute NASK, provides secure official communications entirely within Polish jurisdiction. For classified NATO-grade materials, officials are directed toward SKR-Z, a classified network physically isolated from the internet with infrastructure exclusively hosted on Polish territory.

Security Protocols for Remaining Users

Where immediate transition proves impractical, the Ministry issued comprehensive operational guidelines. Officials must refuse unexpected links in text messages or emails, never share verification codes, and reject direct Signal support contact through the application itself. Users should scan QR codes exclusively through Signal’s native scanner, as attackers exploit alternative scanning methods to gain silent access to private conversations and message histories.

Additional protective measures include regular audits of linked devices, activation of the “Registration Lock” feature, and configuration adjustments to replace phone numbers with unique usernames.

Broader European Digital Independence Movement

Poland’s action reflects a widening European commitment to reducing technological dependence on American corporations. France is transitioning government workstations from Windows to Linux-based systems, while the Netherlands has adopted STACKIT, a German cloud infrastructure provider, to minimize reliance on US technology vendors.

With information from Brussels Signal