Sensitive data on the dark web: Italy's foreign minister denounces hacker attacks

Rome. Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani says he has been under attack for days by hackers who published sensitive personal data about himself and his family on the dark web. "This exposes me to new threats and attempts at intimidation. They also involve my family and are ready to pay for more details about me and my relatives," Tajani wrote on the X platform. "My reaction is very simple: I will not allow myself to be intimidated in any way," he emphasized. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni blamed pro-Russian hackers for the attacks.

Tajani suspects that the reason for the attacks was Italy's support for Ukraine, which was attacked by Russia. “Defending the freedom of a sovereign state and clearly supporting the democracy and independence of a nation is dangerous for these criminal actors,” he wrote.

The Italian daily "Il Fatto Cotidiano" reported that a hacker group called "NoName057(16)", which is suspected of having connections to the Russian military intelligence service GRU, has been offering money since October 26th in exchange for passwords, home addresses, CVs, private telephone numbers and other personal data of a total of 18 people whom the group describes as enemies of Russia. In addition to Tajani, those affected include the Italian public prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi, the head of the postal police, Ivano Gabrielli, and the mayor of Aviano, Paolo Tassan-Zanin.

According to information from the Federal Criminal Police Office BKA from 2025, “NoName057(16)” is a pro-Russian hacker group that has been publicly known and recruited supporters since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Supporters were offered the opportunity to download software with which they then took part in so-called DDoS attacks using their own resources. These are overload attacks on websites with the aim of making them unavailable for a while.

In July 2025, an internationally coordinated police and judicial operation led by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and the Frankfurt am Main Public Prosecutor's Office dismantled the IT infrastructure and the global botnet of “NoName057(16)”. The group remained active afterwards.

According to a report by the Italian news agency Ansa, Germans and an Austrian were also targeted by the hacker group. The report names a Frankfurt public prosecutor, the President of the Federal Criminal Police Office Holger Münch and a German journalist as well as the Austrian President of the EU judicial authority Eurojust, Michael Schmid. The information could not initially be confirmed.

Tajani emphasized that he would stay the course. “I will continue to work to defend my ministry and Italy, and I will continue to strengthen ties and cooperation with our allies so that we can protect ourselves together,” he wrote.

Meloni supported Tajani and blamed pro-Russian hackers for the attacks. “I express my full solidarity with Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani in light of the revelations about the activities of pro-Russian hackers and the distribution of his personal data on the dark web,” said a written statement from the government press office in Rome. Such machinations are extremely worrying and must be combated with all determination.