Italy prevents pro-Russian hacker attacks during Eurovision contest

Italian police thwarted hacker attacks by pro-Russian groups during the 10 May semi-final and Saturday final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin, authorities said on Sunday.

Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra won the contest with their entry "Stefania", riding a wave of public support to claim an emotional victory that was welcomed by the country's president Volodymyr Zelenskiy. 

During voting and the performances, the police cybersecurity department blocked several cyber attacks on network infrastructure by the "Killnet" hacker group and its affiliate "Legion", police said.

The police also gathered information from the pro-Russian group's Telegram channels to prevent other critical events and identified the attacks' geographic location.

On 11 May, "Killnet" claimed an attack on the websites of several Italian institutions, including the Senate, Italy's upper house of parliament, and the National Health Institute (ISS), ANSA news agency reported. 

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

Russia routinely denies it carries out offensive cyber operations.