Pro-Russian hackers target Italy’s Foreign Ministry and Milan airports

Pro-Russian hackers launched DDoS cyberattacks against Italian transportation and diplomatic infrastructure on 28 December, Italy’s National Cybersecurity Agency (ACN) reports. The pro-Russian group NoName057(16) claimed responsibility for the attacks through their Telegram channel.

Earlier this week, Italy confirmed Italy extending military aid to Ukraine through 2025. The attackers of Italian websites identify themselves on Telegram as activists supporting the Russian cause. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, these hactivists have collaborated with other ideologically motivated groups to target numerous European entities in protest of Western support for Ukraine.

According to ACN, the attacks began around 8:00 AM, targeting the websites of transportation companies and the Foreign Ministry.

The DDoS attacks temporarily rendered the websites of Milan-Malpensa airport, Milan-Linate airport, and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs inaccessible, ACN stated. However, the agency emphasized that the disruptions did not affect flight operations.

ACN immediately alerted the targeted sites and supported mitigation efforts. The agency reports that all affected websites soon returned online, following mitigation measures implemented by technical teams. The agency clarified that the brief attacks only impacted public-facing websites and did not impact flight control systems or individual airline websites and applications.

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