Italian cybercrime police responded on Thursday to an ongoing cyberattack targeting the website of the country’s Foreign Ministry, known as the Farnesina. Italian news agencies reported that the attack was suspected to have been carried out by the pro-Russian hacking group NoName057(16).
Initial reports indicated that the incident involved a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, a technique that floods a website with large volumes of fraudulent requests in an attempt to overwhelm its systems and disrupt access.
The Foreign Ministry said its security systems successfully mitigated the attack without causing any service disruption.
“The attack was effectively mitigated by the security systems without causing any interruption,” the Farnesina said in a statement.
The ministry added that it was closely monitoring the situation in coordination with Italy’s National Cybersecurity Agency and other relevant authorities.
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said cybersecurity had become a central component of the ministry’s reform program, approved last year. He added that Italy had strengthened its ability to prevent, monitor and respond to cyber threats in recent months.
“We have adopted all the necessary countermeasures, including technological measures,” Tajani said.
He also announced that Italy had decided to cooperate with Romania and other European Union member states to submit proposals at upcoming European meetings aimed at identifying those responsible for cyberattacks, including incidents targeting Italian institutions.
The suspected involvement of NoName057(16) highlights continuing concerns among European authorities about cyber operations attributed to pro-Russian groups. However, Italian media reports identified the group as the suspected perpetrator, and the available information did not establish definitive attribution.
