Minister Klich: photo - PR

Poland’s defence minister has revealed that his ministry’s computers were immobilised for two days earlier this week after a virus got into the system.

“The threat was serious,” Defence Minister Bogdan Klich told Polish Radio today.

“We were able to identify the threat in time. The alert was called off on Tuesday,” he said.

Klich added that the Polish armed forces unit for cyber security was called in after the virus was discovered in the Ministry of Defence computer system.

Bogdan Klich acknowledged that such situations will occur more and more in the future as cyber attack becomes common and does not exclude the possibility that a virus could be introduced to computer systems "on a whim or by any opponent."

The NATO Lisbon summit, which begins on Friday, will be discussing a new shape to the alliance in the 21st century, including defence against the threat of cyber attack and terrorism. (pg)