A Czech minister says Russia is trying to sabotage the European railway network with cyber attacks

Russia has made “thousands of attempts” to sabotage the European railway network since invading Ukraine, the Czech transport minister said. This was stated by Minister Martin Kupka in an interview published on Friday Financial Times. According to him, this would be part of a Russian campaign aimed at destabilizing European infrastructure.

According to Kupka, the Czech Republic has experience dealing with these types of attacks from Russia. For example, the Russians are said to have committed cyberattacks on the Czech National Railways, Kupka told the British outlet. The hackers are also said to have focused on crippling signaling systems that are supposed to prevent train collisions. According to Kopka, this could have led to serious incidents, but he adds that hackers have had little success in this matter so far.

In recent years, concerns have increased about cyberattacks launched by Russia. In July, the Czech Cybersecurity Agency (NUKIB) reported a massive increase in cyberattacks. In March 2023, the European Union's cybersecurity agency sounded the alarm in a report in which it said it had seen an increase in attacks on railway companies, mainly as a result of the invasion of Ukraine.

Since Prague passed a law in 2022 allowing crackdowns on foreign threats, it has shifted its focus to Russian influence campaigns. For example, last week it imposed sanctions on Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk and the media Voice of EuropeWhich, according to the Czech Foreign Ministry, was part of a “Russian influence operation.”

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