MILAN, May 15 (Reuters) – Italian police prevented hacker attacks by pro-Russian groups between the May 10 semifinals and Saturday’s Eurovision Song Contest finals in Turin, authorities said on Sunday.

The Ukrainian orchestra Kalush won the competition with its performance “Stefania”, which rode a wave of public support for the emotional victory, welcomed by President Volodymyr Zelensky. read more

During the vote and appearances, the Cyber ​​Security Police Department blocked several cyber attacks on network infrastructure by the hacking group Killnet and its Legion affiliate, police said.

Police also gathered information from the pro-Russian group’s telegram channels to prevent other critical incidents and identified the geographical location of the attacks.

On May 11, Killnet launched an attack on the websites of several Italian institutions, including the Senate, the upper house of the Italian parliament and the National Institutes of Health (ISS), the ANSA news agency reported. read more

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, many Western governments have raised preparedness levels in anticipation of possible cyber attacks on IT systems and infrastructure.

Russia regularly denies conducting offensive cyber operations.

Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro; editing by Raissa Kasolowsky, William Maclean

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