Cyber Attack on Italy's Foreign Ministry, Airports Claimed by Pro-Russian Hacker Group

Illustration picture of a hacker with cyber code projected on him (Reuters)
Illustration picture of a hacker with cyber code projected on him (Reuters)
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Cyber Attack on Italy's Foreign Ministry, Airports Claimed by Pro-Russian Hacker Group

Illustration picture of a hacker with cyber code projected on him (Reuters)
Illustration picture of a hacker with cyber code projected on him (Reuters)

Hackers targeted around ten official websites in Italy on Saturday, including the websites of the Foreign Ministry and Milan's two airports, putting them out of action temporarily, the country's cyber security agency said.
The pro-Russian hacker group Noname057(16) claimed the cyber attack on Telegram, saying Italy's "Russophobes get a well deserved cyber response".
A spokesperson for Italy's cyber security agency said it was plausible that the so-called "Distributed Denial of Service" (DDoS) attack could be linked to the pro-Russian group.
In such attacks, hackers attempt to flood a network with unusually high volumes of data traffic in order to paralyze it, Reuters reported
The spokesperson said the agency provided quick assistance to the institutions and firms targeted and that the attack's impact was "mitigated" in less than two hours.
The cyber attack has not caused any disruptions to flights at Milan's Linate and Malpensa airports, a spokesperson for SEA, the company which manages them, said.
While the websites were inaccessible, the airports' mobile apps continued to function, the SEA spokesperson added.



Ukraine Ready to Hold Talks with Russia Once Ceasefire Is in Place, Zelenskiy Says

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during a briefing in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during a briefing in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP)
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Ukraine Ready to Hold Talks with Russia Once Ceasefire Is in Place, Zelenskiy Says

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during a briefing in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during a briefing in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP)

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that Ukraine would be ready to hold talks with Russia in any format once a ceasefire is in place and the fighting between Kyiv and Moscow's forces has stopped.

The Ukrainian leader also told reporters at a briefing that a Ukrainian delegation meeting officials from Western countries in London on Wednesday would have a mandate to discuss a full or partial ceasefire.

"We are ready to record that after a ceasefire, we are ready to sit down in any format so that there are no dead ends," Zelenskiy said at the briefing in the presidential office in Kyiv.

"It will not be possible to agree on everything quickly," he warned, noting numerous highly complex issues such as territory, security guarantees and Ukraine's membership in the NATO military alliance.

The talks in London, which are to set to bring together officials from the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Ukraine, come amid a flurry of intense US-led diplomatic efforts to find a way to end Russia's war with Ukraine.

Zelenskiy said he would be happy to meet US President Donald Trump later this week when they attend the funeral of Pope Francis.