Russian Hackers Accused By Italy of Cyberattacks Ahead of Winter Olympics -

Post Views: 7

Russian Hackers Accused By Italy of Cyberattacks Ahead of Winter Olympics

“Recently, Italy has confronted some cyberattacks, and it is accusing Russia-Linked Hackers for it.”

Antonio Tajani, Foreign Minister, Wednesday

Several cyberattacks of “Russian origin” that targeted diplomatic posts overseas and websites connected to the upcoming Winter Olympics were stopped by Italy.

According to Tajani, the attempted strikes targeted several foreign ministry offices “starting with Washington” as well as establishments related to the 2026 Winter Games, such as hotels in the Cortina d’Ampezzo Alpine resort. He withheld the occurrences’ technical information.

According to France 24, which cited the foreign minister’s office, about 120 targets were impacted, including hotels used by winter sports athletes and consulates in Sydney, Toronto, and Paris. According to the broadcaster, there was no major interruption caused by the attacks.

Claiming responsibility, the pro-Russian hacking collective NoName057(16) described the campaign as payback for Italy’s backing of Ukraine.

NoName057(16), Pro-Russian Hacker Group, Telegram

“Our DDoS attacks are a response to the Italian government’s pro-Ukrainian stance.”

Emerging soon after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, NoName057(16) has mostly concentrated on European nations that support Kyiv, such as Poland, Czechia, Lithuania, and Italy.

The organization uses a loose network of servers and hundreds of volunteers to launch distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, which are comparatively easy but disruptive.

Milan and the surrounding Cortina d’Ampezzo region will host the 2026 Winter Olympics from February 6 to February 22, 2026.

A small number of Russian and Belarusian athletes, 13 and seven, respectively, have been authorized to compete as neutrals without national flags or anthems, although Russia has been prohibited from participating as a nation in the 2026 Games due to its conflict in Ukraine.

Hackers with ties to Russia have previously attacked nations that host important athletic events. In a false-flag operation intended to incriminate North Korean and Chinese actors, the Russian state-sponsored hacker collective Sandworm, better known as APT44, used so-called Olympic Destroyer malware to destroy the Games’ IT infrastructure during the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.

Following the discovery of a state-run doping operation, Russia was prohibited from participating in the 2018 Winter Olympics under its national flag.

In a different incident, Fancy Bear, another hacker group supported by the Kremlin, broke into the World Anti-Doping Agency in 2016 and released athletes’ medical records in what appeared to be an effort to discredit authorities looking into the Russian doping crisis.

French officials and researchers claimed that Russia was the source of an uptick in cyber and misinformation operations during the 2024 Summer Olympics. Regarding Italy’s most recent accusations, Russian state officials have refrained from making any public remarks.

About The Author

Suraj Koli is a content specialist in technical writing about cybersecurity & information security. He has written many amazing articles related to cybersecurity concepts, with the latest trends in cyber awareness and ethical hacking. Find out more about “Him.”