Italy has thwarted "a series of cyberattacks" of "Russian origin" targeting the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, the foreign minister said Wednesday, as security operations ramp up with just hours to go before the opening ceremony.
The attacks were "on foreign ministry offices, starting with Washington, and also some Winter Olympics sites, including hotels in Cortina", Antonio Tajani said during a trip to the US city.
His office did not provide further details, nor did the International Olympic Committee (IOC) immediately respond to a request for comment.
But a Russian hacker group claimed responsibility for the attack, which it said was in response to the Italian government's support for Ukraine.
"The pro-Ukrainian course of the Italian government leads to the fact that support for Ukrainian terrorists is punishable by our DDoS missiles on websites," read a statement on a Telegram channel purporting to represent the group Noname057.
DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks halt access to a website by overloading its servers with traffic.
AFP was not able to immediately verify the account's ownership but its statements appear to match those cited by cybersecurity analysts online.
The group said it had attacked the websites of several hotels in Cortina d'Ampezzo, one of the towns hosting events for the February 6-22 Games.
Access to one of them remained blocked on Wednesday afternoon.
- Skiers and snipers -
Italy has deployed around 6,000 police plus nearly 2,000 military personnel across the Games area, which stretches across half a dozen sites from Milan to the Dolomites.
Bomb disposal experts, snipers, anti-terrorism units and skiing policemen are among those deployed.
The defense ministry is also providing 170 vehicles plus radars, drones and aircraft.
Security is particularly focused on Milan, where political leaders including US Vice President JD Vance are expected for Friday's opening ceremony.
The issue has become a fraught topic after it emerged that agents from the controversial US immigration enforcement agency ICE would be present.
Italy's interior minister Matteo Piantedosi stressed Wednesday that ICE agents, currently embroiled in an often brutal crackdown on illegal immigration in the United States, would not be patrolling the streets of Milan.
ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arm will operate within US diplomatic missions only and "are not operational agents" and "have no executive function", he told parliament.
Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala last week said ICE agents were "not welcome", adding: "This is a militia that kills."
Piantedosi noted it was standard for countries to send security officials to the Olympics, with Italy having sent them to Paris for the 2024 Games, and said the controversy was "completely unfounded.
"ICE does not and will never be able to carry out operational police activities on our national territory," he emphasized.
The HSI investigates global threats, and is separate from the department carrying out the US immigration crackdown that has sparked widespread protests.
The US ambassador to Italy, Tilman J. Fertitta, said last week the HSI will be "strictly advisory and intelligence-based, with no patrolling or enforcement involvement".
"At the Olympics, HSI criminal investigators will contribute their expertise by providing intelligence on transnational criminal threats, with a focus on cybercrimes and national security threats," he said.
- Ice House to Winter House -
But the row continues. A pop-up hospitality house organized by US Figure Skating, USA Hockey and US Speedskating at a hotel in Milan has even changed its name from "Ice House" to "Winter House".
Small protests have been staged against the deployment of ICE in Italy, and further demonstrations are expected during the opening weekend of the Games, focusing on various issues.
Pro-Palestinian activists are planning a demonstration during the arrival of the Olympic flame in Milan on Thursday, to protest Israel's participation in the Games due to the war in Gaza.
Other events are likely to coincide with Friday's opening ceremony at Milan's San Siro stadium, while a march is planned in the city on Saturday.
Critics of the Winter Games complain about the impact of infrastructure -- from new buildings to transport -- on fragile mountain environments, as well as the widespread and energy-intensive use of artificial snow.
