There have been disruptions on the Polish rail network for days. Trains suddenly stop and run late. It has since become apparent that unknown perpetrators used radio signals to force these stops. Two suspects have been arrested.
On Tuesday, 25 passenger trains were hit. There was no danger to the passengers. All trains were able to continue their journey with a small delay, state railway company PKP reports.
Police in Bialystok in the east of the country had already arrested two men on Sunday. Researchers found radio equipment on it. The suspects, including a police officer, are said to have stopped five passenger trains and one freight train on Sunday morning. Individual cases of stopped trains have also been reported from western Poland. During the stops, the Russian national anthem is said to have been heard, as well as a speech by Putin. However, it is not yet clear whether there is a political background to the attacks.
Vulnerability long known
Technically, the attack is relatively simple, cybersecurity expert Lukasz Olejnik explains in the daily newspaper “Dziennik Gazeta Prawna”. Radio technology without encryption is still used in many Polish trains. To stop the trains, all you need is a tone generator and a radio that emits a series of three tones twice in a row on a certain frequency.
“Such a signal causes a sudden stop via a valve in the compressed air braking system.” This safety hole in the Polish railway system has been known for a long time, according to Olejnik. This kind of attack is not entirely new and in recent years there have also been occasional stoppages due to radio signals.
Source: Krone
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