Cyberattacks target Italian foreign minister and company behind Brenner Base Tunnel project

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Saturday that he was being targeted by hackers over Italy's support for Ukraine.

In a post on social media, Tajani said "cybercriminals" had been sharing his personal data on the dark web over a number of days.

He said the hackers were "seeking further information, effectively exposing me to new threats and intimidation," while also targeting his family.

"Our stance on Ukraine is the political reason why I have been targeted: for these criminal organisations, defending the freedom of a sovereign state and taking a clear stand in favour of a nation’s democracy and independence is dangerous," he wrote.

In a statement released on Saturday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her support for Tajani.

“The sale of confidential information concerning public officials is a cause for great concern and must be tackled with the utmost determination,” Meloni said.

It comes as the company behind the under-construction Brenner Base Tunnel project - a 55 km rail link between Innsbruck in Austria and Fortezza in Italy - confirmed it had also been hit by a cyberattack in recent weeks.

BBT SE said the incident occurred on 17 October and that the company had quickly "activated its cyber security protocols, immediately isolating the affected systems and enlisting the support of external cyber security specialists to carry out the necessary forensic analysis."

The attack reportedly involved non-public data that was stolen through access to the company's internet-connected network.