The Italian government said it has successfully prevented a series of cyberattacks suspected to originate from Russia, targeting the 2026 Winter Olympics held in Milan - Cortina from February 6 - 22, 2026, according to Techradar news site.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said the attacks targeted facilities related to the 2026 Winter Olympics, including hotels at the Cortina d'Ampezzo mountain resort, where athletes are staying.
According to published information, the widespread attack campaign targeted about 120 targets, including US diplomatic missions, and many consulates in Sydney, Toronto and Paris. La Sapienza University in Rome was also attacked, suspected of being carried out by hacker groups linked to Russian hackers.
We have prevented a series of cyberattacks targeting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' websites, some locations of the Winter Olympics, including hotels in Cortina," Foreign Minister Tajani said, while affirming that no serious disruptions occurred.
The cyberattack was admitted to be behind by a hacker group called NoName057(16). This group described the attack campaign as an act of retaliation against Italy's support for Ukraine.
The Italian government's policy of supporting Ukraine means supporting Ukrainian terrorists, and that will be punished by our DDoS attacks," the group declared on Telegram.
Russia is currently banned from both the Summer and Winter Olympics after the conflict with Ukraine, although some Russian-born athletes are allowed to compete as neutrals, without national flags or symbols.
La Sapienza University is one of the largest educational institutions in Europe, with about 120,000 students. After the attack, the school temporarily suspended its website and related technology systems, and is making efforts to recover data from untouched backups.
In a notice posted on social networks and Instagram, the school said that the system suspension was carried out as a precaution, in the face of the risk of a ransomware attack.
As a precautionary measure, to ensure the integrity and safety of data, we have made a decision to immediately disconnect the entire network system," said a representative of La Sapienza school.
There are 249 athletes from 74 National Olympic Committees participating in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. Athletes compete in 8 sports, 16 divisions and 116 events. This is also the Olympics marking the first time ski mountaineering has been included in the competition program.
