â More than 1,800 â schools in Italy were sent emails containing bomb threats on Thursday, the government said, a day after some 6,300 schools received similar alerts.
Many schools closed immediately after receiving the latest warnings, causing widespread disruption as parents rushed to collect their children.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 items- list 1 of 3Pro-Russian hackers leak Italian foreign ministerâÂÂs data on dark web
- list 2 of 3Who is behind EuropeâÂÂs suspected hybrid attacks?
- list 3 of 3If hackers can take over a supermarket fridge, what else is at risk?
Police in Rome said âÂÂthere was nothing to substantiateâ the threats.
Like WednesdayâÂÂs emails, the messages were reportedly signed by âÂÂMikhail AndropovâÂÂ, who presented himself as the âÂÂleader of the Vilayat of â â â â MisoginistanâÂÂ, according to ItalyâÂÂs Ansa news agency.
The same purported author claimed responsibility for email bomb threats sent last week to newsrooms in Ireland and Bulgaria.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni summoned opposition leaders for talks on how to deal with similar incidents.
MeloniâÂÂs office said âÂÂbuildings should not be evacuated in the absence of concrete elements beyond the mere receipt of a mass email that would suggest a genuine danger existsâÂÂ, adding that it would instruct schools to act accordingly.
Authorities in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland said many schools had received similar threatening emails from abroad on Wednesday, but classified them as hoaxes and allowed classes to continue.
Opposition parties have accused Meloni of prioritising spending on conventional military equipment while neglecting what they say are âÂÂmore âÂÂpressing cyberthreats.
âÂÂWe need stronger coordination among the bodies responsible for cybersecurity, and we have proposed shifting part of the available resources towards cyberdefences,â said Elly Schlein, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party.
The latest security alert came amid rising concerns â â â â â â â â in Europe aboutàhybrid warfare threats, which have targeted supermarkets, blood banks, air traffic and TV broadcasters.
On Tuesday, France summoned IranâÂÂs ambassador after accusing Tehran of a cyberattack that disabled refrigerators in hundreds of supermarkets.â Tehran rejected the French accusations as âÂÂbaselessâ and âÂÂhostileâÂÂ.
Some European officials suspect Russia of orchestrating the campaign in countries supporting Ukraine after MoscowâÂÂs full-scale invasion. Russia denies the accusation and describes it as a smear campaign.