The attack has not caused service disruption, but comes shortly after 8.8m people’s data was accessed in a Danish hack.

The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been the target of a recent cyberattack, the government authority shared in a statement yesterday (8 October).

The cyberattack, which began yesterday morning, has so far been effectively mitigated by security systems without causing any service disruption, the ministry said.

The situation is under constant monitoring, while cyber experts are also carrying out security checks across Italian diplomatic and consular missions worldwide for similar infiltration attempts.

“In recent months, we have strengthened our capabilities in preventing, monitoring and responding to threats, implementing all the necessary countermeasures, including technological ones,” said the Italian minister of foreign affairs Antonio Tajani.

Government websites, often containing a treasure trove of sensitive data, are a prime target for cyberattacks. Just this year, attackers have targeted official websites belonging to a number of European countries and organisations, including Spain, Norway, Germany and the European Commission.

Earlier this week, Danish authorities alerted the public to an “extremely serious” cyber incident after hackers secured access to the personal information of around 8.8m people.

Armed with AI technology, attackers can now significantly strengthen their attempts to exploit vulnerabilities or carry out believable phishing drives. A recent Eurobarometer report found that three-quarters of EU-based workers came across suspicious emails, messages or links at work over a surveyed six-month period.

Meanwhile, organisations are facing a new kind of hacking attempt led by powerful AI models attempting to gather information. Last month, OpenAI’s AI agents tampered with a number of US government sites, shortly after the Australian prime minister said that his country’s healthcare statistics portal was similarly affected by the company’s models.

The Italian government said it will work with Romania and other EU member states in upcoming meetings to designate those responsible for these attacks.

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