A year of both local government elections and elections to the European Parliament will be conducive to massive attacks on poorly secured local government institutions and acts of disinformation using so-called deepfakes.

According to the Rzeczpospolita daily, the manipulation of online sentiment or the disruption of the voting process are just some of the threats posed by hackers, and the local and European elections are dream opportunities to intensify attacks. Experts quoted in the newspaper warn that hackers will not only paralyse IT systems, but also seek to influence public opinion.

‘I expect disinformation campaigns on an unprecedented scale’, warns Leszek Tasiemski of cyber-security firm With-Secure.

Targets will include local institutions, but also voters personally. Piotr Zielaskiewicz, manager at Dagma Bezpieczeństwo IT, draws attention to a certain correlation: in 2023, cybercriminals were more vicious in attacking industries that were covered by systemic support in the area of digital security.

“The ‘Cyber Secure Local Government’ programme is underway and will enter the practical implementation phase in the first half of this year. At the same time, we are awaiting local elections in the spring. One may wonder whether, in the face of these circumstances, cybercriminals will not focus precisely on local governments”, says Zielaskiewicz.

Specialists from Trend Micro, a global leader in cybersecurity, warn in a recent report that the widespread availability and improved quality of generative artificial intelligence (AI) will enable the creation of hyper-realistic audio and video content (so-called deepfake), which will fuel a new wave of virtual fraud.

“In pre-election periods or social tensions, this is the perfect tool for spreading disinformation and conducting influence campaigns, Leszek Tasiemski points out. The expert assesses that disinformation during elections and cyber attacks from Russia will be particularly dangerous this year.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński