Will Poland survive a coordinated attack? Streżyńska: "We haven't tested it in practice”
26.05.2026
A discussion held during the Poland's Security Congress in Jasionka near Rzeszów made one thing clear: today, national security is a system of interconnected vessels - and its resilience has still not been truly tested. Anna Streżyńska, Director of the National Institute of Telecommunications (Instytut Łączności), took part in the panel discussion "Connectivity, OT and the Cloud. One National Security Ecosystem” alongside representatives of public administration and the market: the President of the Office of Electronic Communications (UKE), representatives of the telecommunications sector, technology providers, and infrastructure and data experts.
One ecosystem instead of three separate worlds
Connectivity, operational technology (OT), and cloud computing — although often analyzed separately — in practice form one inseparable system. Today, its efficiency determines the state’s ability to respond in crisis situations.
Experts participating in the panel agreed that modern threats no longer consist solely of physical destruction of infrastructure. Increasingly, their goal is to undermine trust in systems — and therefore in information, decisions, and state institutions themselves.
Streżyńska: first tests, then declarations
In this context, the voice of the Director of the National Institute of Telecommunications stood out as particularly strong and concrete.
Certain things simply have to be practiced before they happen — through coordinated attack simulations
- said Anna Streżyńska.
As she emphasized, national resilience cannot rely solely on assumptions or analyses. What matters is testing systems under conditions of maximum load and disruption.
In the end, it is not always about destroying infrastructure. Increasingly, it is about compromising it — and along with it, the sources of knowledge, communication, and statehood itself
- added the Director of IŁ-PIB.
The domino effect: when one system brings the state to a halt
One of the key themes of the discussion was the growing interdependence of digital systems. Examples from recent years show that the failure of a single component — even an apparently technical one — can trigger a cascade of consequences throughout the economy.
Geodetic, banking, administrative systems, and critical infrastructure are now closely interconnected. Lack of access to data or its disruption may result in halted investments, problems in the financial sector, or disruptions in public services.
The technology exists. What is missing are decisions
Importantly, panelists pointed out that Poland already possesses a significant portion of the technology needed to build a resilient security system. Telecommunications solutions, management systems, cloud infrastructure, and ready-made interoperability standards between systems are already available.
The problem, therefore, is not the lack of tools, but rather the lack of integration and implementation on an appropriate scale. In other words, the components are already on the table, but they have not yet been assembled into a functioning mechanism.
Multilayer architecture as the foundation of security
Experts unanimously agreed that the future belongs to multilayer architecture — based on various technologies complementing one another.
The key is to use multiple technologies and integrate them in such a way that the system remains resilient even in the event of partial disruption.
In practice, this means building a system that combines different types of connectivity — from mobile networks and satellite solutions to radio communications and cloud infrastructure — so that if one layer fails, the others can take over its functions.
Humans still at the center
Although the panel focused on infrastructure, there was also reflection on the role of people. Competencies, procedures, and cybersecurity education remain essential for an effective response to threats. At the same time, participants noted that training alone is not enough unless supported by realistic operational scenarios and system testing.
Moreover, threats increasingly originate not directly from people, but from automated processes and systems based on artificial intelligence, which further increases the complexity of the entire security ecosystem.
What next? Concrete recommendations
At the conclusion of the panel, experts identified several directions that should become priorities for the state. They emphasized the need for regular resilience testing of systems — not only in theory, but also under conditions simulating real crises. Equally important is the creation of an interoperable communication system for emergency services, enabling efficient communication regardless of the situation.
Attention was also drawn to the need to develop multilayer architecture and strengthen competencies — both at the institutional level and across society as a whole. Another key issue remains the clear assignment of responsibility for coordinating actions in the field of digital security, because without leadership it is difficult to speak of a coherent system.
The conclusions from the discussion are unequivocal: in the digital era, national security no longer depends on individual technologies, but on the ability to connect them into one coherent and resilient ecosystem.
