The NATO alliance will deepen its cyber warfare cooperation with its partner Ukraine, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday, after a massive cyberattack knocked out official websites.

"Allied experts in country are also supporting the Ukrainian authorities on the ground," Stoltenberg said, in a statement from NATO headquarters.

"In the coming days, NATO and Ukraine will sign an agreement on enhanced cyber cooperation, including Ukrainian access to NATO's malware information sharing platform," he said.

Earlier, a sweeping cyberattack had briefly hijacked Kyiv government websites, sparking speculation that Russian actors were sabotaging Ukraine, amid high stakes military tensions between the neighbours.

The European Union said it was mobilising "all its resources" to help Ukraine, and NATO and the Western allies have warned they will impose "massive consequences" on Russia if it attacks.

"NATO has worked closely with Ukraine for years to help boost its cyber defences. NATO cyber experts in Brussels have been exchanging information with their Ukrainian counterparts on the current malicious cyber activities," Stoltenberg said.

"NATO's strong political and practical support for Ukraine will continue."

Warsaw says army database leak not a security threat
Warsaw (AFP) Jan 14, 2022 - Poland's defence minister on Friday confirmed reports that a database of the army's entire equipment stock had been leaked online but insisted the incident was not a security threat.

"The publication of the data does not constitute a threat to national security or to the operations of the Polish armed forces," Mariusz Blaszczak said in a statement.

The minister said the leaked database "only contains information that is (already) available to the public. It can be accessed, for example, through public procurement procedures that are conducted and published openly".

The military police were leading an inquiry "into the civil servant who put the information on an unauthorised server, without being authorised to do so", he added.

Blaszczak's statement came just hours after Polish website Onet.pl said a database containing the equipment requirements of every single unit in the army had been leaked online.

The Polish opposition has demanded Blaszczak's resignation and called for a security check of the defence ministry.

Onet.pl said each of the 1.75 million entries in the database detailed the equipment needs of an army unit.

These ranged from F-16 fighter jets, heavy weapons, spare parts, munitions and IT equipment to uniforms, underclothes, blankets, flags and even diplomas.

The database provides a precise snapshot of the state of the army's equipment at any one time, indicates whether this equipment is in working order and what elements are lacking.

It also gives details of the type of software the military uses and the licences it possesses.

A section of the database lists weapons and machines the Polish armed forces have bought from third countries.

Onet.pl said the leaked information had already been downloaded by internet users from more than a dozen countries, including Russia and China.

Related Links
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Warsaw says army database leak not a security threat
Warsaw (AFP) Jan 14, 2022
Poland's defence minister on Friday confirmed reports that a database of the army's entire equipment stock had been leaked online but insisted the incident was not a security threat. "The publication of the data does not constitute a threat to national security or to the operations of the Polish armed forces," Mariusz Blaszczak said in a statement. The minister said the leaked database "only contains information that is (already) available to the public. It can be accessed, for example, through ... read more