Major Outage at PKO BP and Warnings About New Cybercriminal Methods

Polish banking has come under the spotlight due to a series of technical problems and growing threats from cybercriminals. The most serious technical incident was a major outage at PKO BP, which began on February 26. Customers reported en masse a lack of access to the IKO app and the iPKO service, which prevented them from making transfers and managing funds. Although the bank ultimately brought the situation under control and apologized for the inconvenience, the incident has sparked a discussion about the stability of critical digital infrastructure. At the same time, customers of Pekao S.A. and ING Bank Śląski reported difficulties accessing services, which, however, resulted from technical problems on the part of mobile network operators, not from bank system failures. These banks continuously monitor threats and remind customers of security principles in the face of ongoing cybercriminal activity. Security experts also point to a drastic increase in threats related to the Telegram messenger. Data from the Italian and Spanish markets confirms that this platform has become a main channel for distributing fraudulent payment schemes, recording a 233 percent year-on-year increase in cases. Since 2016, when the BLIK system was introduced in Poland, the cashless payments sector has become a key element of the economy, which has simultaneously attracted the attention of hacker groups specializing in social engineering.New extortion methods include, among others, fake notifications about subscription issues with Netflix or account blocks in the Revolut app. In each of these cases, the common denominator is an attempt to get the user to click a link leading to a spoofed website.