Italian law enforcement authorities have reportedly mitigated efforts by pro-Russian hackers who sought to disrupt the Eurovision Song Contest over the weekend. The final of the annual competition took place in Turin on Saturday, without Russia, who was banned this year due to its invasion of Ukraine. The eventual winner of the contest was Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra. During both of the live performances and voting process, law enforcement stated that they were forced to block several attacks on network infrastructure. Italian officials have blamed the Russian Killnet group and its affiliate group Legion.
It is unclear what type of attack was attempted, however, they may have been traditional distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks or web defacements. The authorities also closely monitored the group’s Telegram channels to identify their location and prevent any other cyberattacks. The same group reportedly launched attacks against several Italian institutions in the days before the event, including the upper house of parliament, the National Health Institute, and the Automobile Club d’Italia. No significant damage was reported.
Read More: Italian Police Foil Pro-Russia Attacks on Eurovision
