Hackers Leak Italian Foreign Minister Personal Data on Dark Web

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced on November 7 that cybercriminals had spent days distributing his personal data on the dark web and seeking additional information about him and his family.

Tajani stated on the social media platform X that the hackers were willing to pay for further details regarding his loved ones and that he would not be intimidated by the exposure. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attributed the cyberattack to pro-Russian hackers, calling the sale of confidential information concerning public officials a matter of grave concern that requires utmost determination.

Tajani linked the targeting directly to Italy's support for Ukraine, asserting that defending the sovereignty and independence of a nation makes officials dangerous to such criminal entities. Tajani also suggested that the intrusion was a reaction to measures implemented by the foreign ministry to improve cybersecurity, noting that a dedicated cyber directorate had begun operating on January 1 to protect the ministry from intrusions linked to hostile state entities.

Screenshots showed Tajani featured on a list of eighteen citizens hostile to the Russian Federation, alongside cybersecurity experts. The incident coincides with a broader wave of security disruptions across Europe, including hoax bomb threats that forced flight diversions, attacks on supermarket refrigeration systems, drone incursions, and a cyberattack that hit the company behind the Brenner Base Tunnel project on October 17.