Italy Faces Second Day of School Bomb Hoaxes, Over 1,800 Institutions Targeted

Italian schools were once again the target of emailed bomb threats on Thursday, with over 1,800 institutions receiving the false warnings. This follows a similar incident on Wednesday, which saw approximately 6,300 schools alerted. The repeated threats caused significant disruption, leading many schools to close their doors and prompting parents to rush to collect their children. Authorities in Rome stated that the threats were unsubstantiated. Similar to the previous day's messages, the emails were reportedly signed by an individual identifying as "Mikhail Andropov," the purported "leader of the Vilayat of Misoginistan," according to Italy's Ansa news agency. The same sender has also claimed responsibility for earlier bomb threats sent to newsrooms in Ireland and Bulgaria.

In response to the escalating situation, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni convened a meeting with opposition leaders to discuss strategies for managing such incidents. Meloni's office issued a statement advising that buildings should not be evacuated based solely on mass emails lacking concrete evidence of danger, and that schools would be instructed to follow this guidance. Authorities in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland confirmed that numerous schools in their regions received similar threatening emails from abroad on Wednesday, but classified them as hoaxes and allowed classes to proceed.

Opposition parties have criticized Meloni's government, alleging a prioritization of conventional military spending over addressing pressing cyberthreats. Elly Schlein, the leader of the Democratic Party, emphasized the need for enhanced coordination among cybersecurity bodies and proposed reallocating resources towards cyberdefences. This latest security alert occurs amidst growing concerns across Europe regarding hybrid warfare tactics, which have previously targeted various sectors including supermarkets, blood banks, air traffic control, and television broadcasters.

Earlier in the week, France summoned Iran's ambassador following accusations of a cyberattack that disrupted refrigeration systems in hundreds of French supermarkets. Tehran has dismissed these accusations as baseless and hostile. Some European officials suspect Russia may be behind this campaign of threats in countries supporting Ukraine, particularly following Moscow's full-scale invasion. Russia denies these allegations, characterizing them as a smear campaign.