Winter Olympics hit by suspected ‘Russian origin’ cyberattack – as one of Europe’s largest universities also reports major cybersecurity incident
- Cyberattack targeting Winter Olympics reportedly blocked
- Italy says attack was ‘of Russian origin’
- La Sapienza University of Rome also affected by an attack
The Italian government has claimed that a series of cyberattacks “of Russian origin” had been prevented 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 of Cortina d’Ampezzo where athletes were staying.
The large-scale attack reportedly hit approximately 120 targets, including Department of Foreign Affairs offices in the United States, as well as consulates in Sydney, Toronto and Paris. La Sapienza University in Rome was also hit in an apparently separate attack, also attributed to Russian-linked hackers.
“Series of cyberattacks”
“We prevented a series of cyberattacks against Foreign Ministry sites, starting in Washington, but also involving some Winter Olympics sites, including hotels in Cortina,” Tajani noted, adding that no significant disruption was caused.
The attack was claimed by the pro-Russian hacker group NoName057(16), describing the campaign as retaliation for Italy’s support for Ukraine.
“The Italian government’s pro-Ukrainian policy means that support for Ukrainian terrorists is punished by our DDoS attacks,” the group said on Telegram.
Russia is currently banned from participating in the Summer and Winter Olympics following its invasion of Ukraine, although some athletes of Russian origin have been allowed to compete as neutral representatives, without a flag.
La Sapienza is one of the largest universities in Europe, with around 120,000 students. Following the alleged attack, the company shut down its website and other associated IT systems, and is now attempting to restore access using unaffected backups.
In a recent post and Instagram stories, the university said it took its systems down as a precaution for what was apparently a ransomware attack.
“As a precautionary measure, and to ensure data integrity and security, an immediate shutdown of network systems has been ordered,” the organization said.
He added that an investigation is underway and some communication channels such as email and desktops are “partially restricted”, with temporary “information points” set up for students to provide information accessible via digital systems and databases which are currently not available.
Via P.A. And BeepComputer
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