Russian hackers have been targeting various Italian institutional portals since around ten o’clock Thursday night, Italy’s postal police said Friday.
The postal police is working to protect the sites from the assault. Russian collective Killnet has claimed responsibility for the attack. Among the websites Killnet has targeted are those of the judiciary’s self-governing body, the Supreme Council of Magistrates (CSM), the Customs Agency, and the ministries of foreign affairs, education, and cultural heritage.
Killnet launched its DDOS attack after indicating on its Telegram channels a long list of targets, some 50 in all, including ministries, companies, watchdogs, media and judicial bodies, sources said. “Fire on everything,” the hackers wrote, having previously issued instructions on “how to liquidate the Italian information system”, urging a 48-hour attack that would only spare the national health service. Rome prosecutors have opened an international terrorism probe.
