Rome (AFP) – A few days before the start of the Winter Olympic Games in Milano Cortina, the Italian authorities neutralized several computer attacks directed against official systems and venues linked to the event. A group of Russian hackers claimed responsibility for the offensive against Italy's support for Ukraine.

First modification: 02/04/2026 - 18:43 Last modification: 02/05/2026 - 01:04

Italy has thwarted a series of Russian cyberattacks against the Winter Olympic Games that begin on Friday in Milano Cortina, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Wednesday.

"We managed to thwart a series of cyber attacks against foreign ministry offices, starting with Washington, and also against some venues of the Winter Olympic Games, including hotels in Cortina," Tajani declared during a trip to Washington, adding that this intrusion was "of Russian origin."

Mark Adams, director of communications for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), told reporters: "We don't comment on safety; it's best practice."

A group of Russian hackers claimed responsibility for the attack, which they claimed was a response to the Italian government's support for Ukraine.

"The pro-Ukrainian stance of the Italian government means that support for Ukrainian terrorists is punished with our DDoS attacks on websites," read a statement on a Telegram channel supposedly representing the Noname057 group.

DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks prevent access to a website by overloading its servers with traffic.

AFP could not immediately verify the ownership of the account, but its statements appear to match those cited by online cybersecurity analysts.

The group claimed to have attacked the websites of several hotels in Cortina d'Ampezzo, one of the host cities of the Games, which will be held from February 6 to 22. Access to one of them remained blocked on Wednesday afternoon.

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