According to Italy’s national cybersecurity agency ACN, approximately twenty Italian websites have been targeted by pro-Russian hackers.
The attacks were carried out by Russia’s state-sponsored hacker group NoName057(16). They targeted the websites of banks and airports, including Intesa Sanpaolo, Banca Monte dei Paschi, Iccrea Banca, and Milan’s Linate and Malpensa airports.
According to ACN, most of the attacks were so-called DDoS attacks, aimed at overloading servers to obstruct day-to-day operations. However, thanks to the swift response from cybersecurity authorities, the attacks didn’t cause any major disruption.
The cybersecurity agency added that the attacks were most likely politically motivated.
In a speech last week, Italian President Sergio Mattarella criticized and condemned Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, comparing it to World War II. “This was the project of the Third Reich in Europe. The current Russian aggression against Ukraine is of this nature,” he said.
Mattarella’s remark outraged Moscow. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called his statements “blasphemous inventions.” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni defended Mattarella’s remarks.
This caused Russia to retaliate by attacking a dozen Italian websites.
It isn’t the first time NoName057(16) has attacked Italy. Last December, the pro-Russian hacker group flooded the websites of Italy’s Foreign Ministry and Milan’s Linate and Malpensa airports. While the websites were temporarily unavailable, the airports' mobile apps continued to function.
NoName057(16) claimed responsibility for the attack in Telegram, saying that Italy’s “Russophobes get a well-deserved cyber response.”
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