Italy’s anti-mafia directorate faces cyberattack; hackers suspected of targeting secret investigative data

Dia, the Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate of Italy’s Ministry of the Interior, was the target of a cyberattack today.

Initially, several Italian media outlets raised the possibility that confidential data related to investigations into organized crime had been stolen. Dia later clarified that the hackers had not managed to obtain sensitive data: they had copied only information and texts published on the website of this department of Italy’s Ministry of the Interior.

According to reports, the incident may have been part of an attempt to obtain secret information ahead of a meeting of the heads of European police forces, scheduled for the coming days.

Meanwhile, an anti-terrorism investigation is ongoing at the Rome prosecutor’s office to identify those responsible for last week’s hybrid attacks. The attacks disrupted air traffic and supermarket networks in several European countries.