Italy has thwarted a series of cyberattacks linked to Moscow as the Winter Olympics opening ceremony draws near.
The digital assaults targeted Italy’s foreign ministry facilities, including an embassy in Washington, as well as websites linked to the Winter Olympics and hotels in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Tuesday.
‘These are actions of Russian origin,’ Tajani said in remarks confirmed by a spokesperson.
‘We prevented a series of cyberattacks against foreign ministry sites, starting with Washington and also involving some Winter Olympics sites, including hotels in Cortina,’ he said.
The Winter Olympics are due to get underway later this week, with the opening ceremony taking place on Friday.
It comes just four months after Russian hackers stole hundreds of sensitive military documents containing details of eight RAF and Royal Navy bases as well as Ministry of Defence staff names and emails – and posted them on the dark web.
In what was described as a ‘catastrophic’ security breach, cybercriminals accessed the cache of files by hacking a maintenance and construction contractor used by the MoD.
The ‘gateway’ attack – which targeted third party the Dodd Group – allowed cyber gangsters to circumvent the almost impenetrable cyber defences used by the Armed Forces.
The MoD said it was investigating the enormous data and security breach, believed to have been carried out by the Russian group Lynx.
Leaked documents seen by the MoS disclose information about several sensitive RAF and Navy bases, including RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, where the US Air Force’s F-35 stealth jets are based, and their nuclear bombs are believed to be housed.
Other bases include RAF Portreath – a top-secret radar station that forms part of Nato’s air defence network – and RAF Predannack, now home to the UK’s National Drone Hub.
Details of contractors’ names, car registrations, and mobile numbers, as well as MoD personnel’s names and email addresses, were also uploaded.
Some documents are marked ‘Controlled’ or ‘Official Sensitive’.
In September, thousands of air passengers faced chaos after hundreds of flights were delayed at Heathrow as a suspected Russian cyber-attack crippled its electronic check-in and boarding facilities.
The same strike left Brussels airport paralysed, with half of all flights being cancelled. There were also disruptions in Berlin, Dublin, and Cork.
As the National Cyber Security Centre – the public-facing arm of GCHQ – launched an investigation, experts blamed groups linked to Russia.
They pointed out the attack came hours after Russian jets breached NATO airspace by entering Estonia’s skies and flying over its sovereign territory for 12 minutes.
One former British military intelligence officer warned that the cyberattack, which crippled Heathrow and other European airports, had ‘all the hallmarks’ of being Russian-related.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.
