Italy has thwarted a series of Russian cyberattacks 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 while visiting the nation's capital.
His office said that the attacks had affected some 120 sites, including the Italian Embassy in Washington, but had since been effectively neutralized.
Mark Adams, communications director of the International Olympic Committee, told reporters that "we don't comment on security, it's best practice not to."
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 Feb. 6-22 Games.
Access to one of them remained blocked Wednesday afternoon.
Skiers and snipers
Italy has deployed around 6,000 police officers and 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 Vice President JD Vance are expected for Friday's opening ceremony.
The issue has become a fraught topic after it emerged that agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be present.
Italy's interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi, stressed Wednesday that ICE agents, who are involved in a crackdown on illegal immigration in the United States, would not patrol the streets of Milan.
ICE's Homeland Security Investigations arm will operate within U.S. diplomatic missions only, "are not operational agents," and "have no executive function," he told Parliament.
Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala said last week that ICE agents were not welcome, calling the agency "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 said.
HSI investigates global threats and is separate from the department carrying out the immigration crackdown in the U.S. that has sparked widespread protests.
The U.S. ambassador to Italy, Tilman J. Fertitta, said last week that 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' Renamed 'Winter House'
But the row continues. A pop-up hospitality house organized by U.S. 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 agents in Italy, and further demonstrations are expected over the opening weekend of the Games.
When the Olympic flame arrives Thursday in Milan, pro-Palestinian demonstrators plan to protest Israel's participation in the Games due to the war in the Gaza Strip.
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 such as new buildings and transportation on fragile mountain environments, as well as the widespread and energy-intensive use of artificial snow.