Hackers breach Italian lawmakers’ email accounts, including Meloni’s
A cyberattack reached email accounts belonging to Italian lawmakers, including the address assigned to Giorgia Meloni as a member of parliament. Her office said it is separate from government communications. Parliamentary technicians and the national cybersecurity agency worked to contain the intrusion, while police examined the attack and responsibility remained unestablished.
Geopolitics··Midday
Parliamentary mailboxes accessed
Hackers gained access to email accounts belonging to members of Italy’s Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of parliament, including Giorgia Meloni’s parliamentary mailbox. The incident became public on 27 October. Other accounts affected belonged to lawmakers Andrea Delmastro and Paolo Formentini. Meloni’s office said the address assigned to her as a lawmaker was not used for sensitive government communications, which use a different channel.[1], [2]
The prime minister’s office said the parliamentary mailbox was monitored regularly and received messages addressed to Meloni. It distinguished that account from those handling the prime minister’s work in government. Technical inquiries were examining what information had been exposed. No definite account of which messages had been read or removed was available when the incident was reported.[1], [2]
Technicians isolate systems and close vulnerabilities
Parliament’s technicians worked with the national cybersecurity agency to stop unauthorised access, address vulnerabilities and restore affected functions. According to the technical account, systems were isolated and malicious activity blocked before security updates were applied. The Chamber already had a cooperation arrangement with the agency. Parliamentary sources said the protective measures had contained the attack, while technical checks continued to establish the extent of the intrusion.[1], [2]
The protective procedures can temporarily suspend individual computer functions while technicians investigate anomalies or prevent further unauthorised access, parliamentary sources explained. The Chamber said its systems were under control. The cooperation with the cybersecurity agency had been formalised during the current legislature, and its specialists were working alongside the parliament’s own staff on the vulnerabilities involved in this incident.[1], [2]
Police investigate without a firm attribution
Postal police were investigating the intrusion, including whether it shared an origin with attacks on other institutions. Prosecutors in Rome were awaiting the police’s initial report for proceedings over unauthorised access to a computer system. No firm attribution had been established. The investigation concerns entry into lawmakers’ mailboxes; officials had not identified a breach of the separate system used for Meloni’s government communications.[1]
Investigators were checking whether the intrusion was confined to the named addresses or involved attempts to reach other parts of the infrastructure. Parliamentary sources described a wider increase in attempted attacks on institutions. Police were examining possible connections with incidents affecting national and international bodies. The available information did not establish an origin for the intrusion or a particular group responsible for it.[1], [2]
