Image of bear posted on hacked Italian sites.
A Russian hacking group targeted the websites of several Italian institutions and companies on Wednesday following
a visit to Ukraine by Italy’s premier Giorgia Meloni.
The cyber attack was claimed by the pro-Russian group NoName057 which cited Italy's pledge of continued support for Ukraine, via its Telegram profile, reports news agency ANSA.
The so-called "Distributed Denial-of-Service" (DDoS) attack affected the websites of Italy's ministry for foreign affairs, the Carabinieri, the BPER bank and the telecommunications company TIM, reports newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore.
Messages in Russian posted on the sites contained references to "Russophobic Italy" with an image of a bear and a paw print on the Italian flag.