Meloni blames pro-Russian hackers for cyberattack on foreign minister

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni blamed pro-Russian hackers for a cyberattack on her foreign minister, after a rise in hybrid disruptions from entities aligned with Vladimir Putin’s government. 

“The fact that confidential information concerning government officials is being put up for sale is a matter of grave concern and must be addressed with the utmost determination,” Meloni said.

 

Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani, who also serves as foreign minister, said Saturday that hackers had published his personal information on the dark web, citing intimidation as a motive. 

 

“Our position on Ukraine is the political reason I have been targeted,” he said in a post on X. Tajani has asked for the topic of hybrid wars to be placed at the top of the agenda of a G7 meeting set to take place in Paris on Monday, Ansa reported.

 

 

Officials close to Tajani said Italy’s cybersecurity apparatus had detected the minister’s personal details in recent days through its monitoring activity, and that they were accompanied by threats and attempts to retrieve more information about him and his family. They said the that because the information was hosted on the dark web, a high degree of anonymity for users accessing it was possible.

 

In screenshots of the dark web pages shared by the officials, similar requests for more information were present for other cybersecurity experts and Italian public officials, including a prosecutor, a police official and a mayor. They are all deemed to be “citizens hostile to the Russian Federation.”

 

The attack on Tajani comes as law enforcement officials report an increase in cyberattacks from hacking groups sympathetic to Russia. Interference has disrupted a range of activities, including mundane operations like funeral homes and supermarket freezers. Meloni’s government is looking into whether outside actors such as Russia had a hand in recent protests that swept Milan and other European cities. 

 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov didn’t respond to a request for comment.

 

Italy has been a supporter of Ukraine in its war against Russia since its 2022 invasion.