A cyberattack has targeted authorities and emergency services in the region of South Tyrol, Italy this past week. The attack has caused major technical problems in several of the different government control panels and telephone systems. The system failure has especially affected the State Traffic Reporting Centre and the State Emergency Call Centre. It also impacted the Centre of the Professional Fire Brigade and the critical State Radio Service in the region.
As Governor and Civil Protection Minister Arno Kompatscher reported, this system failure is due to a cyberattack.
The first technical problems were noticed on the evening of June 23rd, and work is currently underway. Officials are working to secure the main system and to rectify the various faults that have been identified. The responsible authorities and the local public prosecutor’s office were immediately informed of the significant security incident.
A ransom note was deposited in the contaminated facilities, but the government will not comply with its demands. At a briefing, representatives emphasized that the problem has been recognized and it has now been absolutely delineated. Major damage was already prevented in the initial phase by the immediate activation of all appropriate security procedures.
Work is now being done around the clock by technicians to fix the problem and restore all of the services.
More employees have been brought in at the state emergency call centre to help with the ongoing response. Many processes currently have to be done manually, which is creating a significant backlog of important government work. However, there are no restrictions on emergency calls for the population, as all control centers can still be reached. The state traffic reporting centre and infomobility services are working again, but with some very noticeable service delays.
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