Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has been under attack for days by hackers who have published sensitive personal data about him and his family on the dark web, he said on Saturday.”This exposes me to new threats and attempts at intimidation. They are also involving my family and are prepared to pay for further details about me and my relatives,” Tajani wrote on the platform X. “My response is very simple: I will not be intimidated in any way,” he emphasized.Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni blamed pro-Russian hackers for the attacks.Tajani suspects that the reason for the attacks is Italy’s support for Ukraine, which is under attack from Russia. “Defending the freedom of a sovereign state and taking a clear stand for a nation’s democracy and independence is dangerous for these criminal actors,” he wrote.The Italian daily newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano (The Daily Fact) reported that a hacker group called NoName057(16), which is believed to have links to the Russian military intelligence service GRU, has been offering money since October 26 for passwords, home addresses, CVs, private telephone numbers and other personal data belonging to a total of 18 people whom the group describes as enemies of Russia.In addition to Tajani, those affected include Italian Public Prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi, the head of the postal police, Ivano Gabrielli, and the mayor of Aviano, Paolo Tassan-Zanin.According to a report by the Italian news agency ANSA, Germans and an Austrian have also been targeted by the hacker group.The report names a Frankfurt public prosecutor, President of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) Holger Münch and a German journalist, as well as the Austrian president of the EU judicial authority Eurojust. Michael Schmid.The information could not initially be confirmed.Tajani emphasized that he would stay the course. “I will continue to work to defend my ministry and Italy, and I will further strengthen ties and cooperation with our allies so that we can protect ourselves together,” he wrote.Meloni backed Tajani and blamed pro-Russian hackers for the attacks.”I express my full solidarity with Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani in light of the revelations regarding the activities of pro-Russian hackers and the dissemination of his personal data on the dark web,” stated a written statement from the government press office in Rome.Such machinations are extremely worrying and must be combated with the utmost determination, it added.
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