Hundreds of schools in Italy and elsewhere in Europe were evacuated on Wednesday after receiving emailed bomb threats that were determined to be hoaxes, officials said, adding to disruptions after flights and news outlets across the continent were targeted with similar threats last week.
The latest messages, which were also sent to schools in Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland, appeared to be part of a coordinated campaign to sow confusion across Europe, officials said, even as they indicated that they did not know who was behind them.
Italy’s education ministry said that some 6,300 schools had received the anonymous threats. Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara said that Italy’s intelligence agencies were investigating and suggested a link to other recent disruptions in Europe, including apparent cyberattacks on supermarket refrigeration systems and blood banks.
“It’s not the first time,” Mr. Valditara told “l’Aria che Tira,” a morning talk show on the La7 channel in Italy. “We obviously need to be vigilant, but we must also be aware that in a context where hybrid warfare is increasingly being used as a tool to destabilize nations and economies, we need to prepare ourselves.”
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy called a meeting of ministers and cybersecurity officials on Wednesday but said that “at this time, the investigations conducted have not revealed any evidence to suggest that a concrete danger exists.”
“Rather,” she added in a statement on social media, “they appear to be part of a strategy aimed at causing alarm and concern.”
Source: www.nytimes.com
