- Cyber attack targeting Winter Olympics reportedly blocked
- Italy says attack was ‘of Russian origin’
- La Sapienza University in Rome was also hit by an attack
The Italian government has claimed that a series of cyber attacks of “Russian origin” have been blocked from targeting the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina.
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said the attack hit facilities linked to the 2026 Winter Games, including hotels in the Alpine resort town of Cortina d’Ampezzo where athletes were staying.
The wide-ranging attack reportedly hit around 120 targets, including State Department offices in the US, as well as consulates in Sydney, Toronto and Paris, and La Sapienza University in Rome was also hit in an apparently separate attack also attributed to Russian-linked hackers.
“Series of Cyber Attacks”
“We thwarted a number of cyber attacks against State Department websites, starting with Washington, and also involving some Winter Olympic venues, including hotels in Cortina,” Tajani noted, adding that there was no significant disruption.
The attack was claimed by the pro-Russian hacker group NoName057(16) claimed responsibility, describing the campaign as retaliation for Italy’s support for Ukraine.
“The Italian government’s pro-Ukraine policy means that support for Ukrainian terrorists is punished with our DDoS attacks,” the group said on Telegram.
Russia is currently banned from competing at the Summer and Winter Olympics following the country’s invasion of Ukraine, although some Russian-born athletes have been cleared to compete as neutral representatives without a flag.
La Sapienza is one of the largest universities in Europe with around 120,000 students. After the suspected attack, it removed its website and other related computer systems and is now trying to restore access using unaffected backups.
In a recent post and in stories on Instagram, the university said it took its systems down as a precaution for what appeared to be a ransomware attack.
“As a precautionary measure, and to ensure the integrity and security of data, an immediate shutdown of network systems has been ordered,” the organization said.
It added that an investigation is taking place and some communication channels such as email and workstations are “partially restricted”, with temporary “info points” set up for students to provide information available through digital systems and databases that are currently unavailable.
Via AP and Bleeping Computer
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