ROME — Italy is stepping up cooperation among intelligence agencies, law enforcement and cybersecurity authorities, while investing in stronger defenses for government systems, critical infrastructure and businesses. The country is going on the offensive in the hybrid war. The threat is elusive, the battlefield has no borders, and attacks — as recent incidents across Europe have shown — can be launched remotely.

Hacker groups have breached government websites, sabotaged equipment at major retail and healthcare facilities, and thrown airports into chaos with bomb threats that later proved to be false. The groups operate under different names but, according to the findings presented at a meeting at the Interior Ministry on Wednesday, share a common objective: “To destabilize and spread alarm through threats that ultimately prove unfounded, undermining the reputation of the institutions being targeted.” Elections, too, may be part of their strategy.

How can Italy protect itself? That was the central question at a meeting of the National Committee for Public Order and Security, convened by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi and attended by intelligence chiefs, law enforcement officials, the chief of defense staff, the national anti-mafia and counterterrorism prosecutor, and representatives of the National Cybersecurity Agency.

The meeting focused on assessments of threats to the computer systems that underpin essential public services. The potential targets range from local health authorities and municipal governments to schools, hospitals, transportation networks and telecommunications systems.

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Experts say Italy's digital infrastructure has, by and large, held up so far, demonstrating a degree of “resilience.” But now is the time to put concrete countermeasures in place: improve information sharing, including between the public and private sectors, and invest in “strengthening system protection and response capabilities.”

Italy is preparing its counteroffensive, and so is Europe. Juahn Lepassaar, Executive Director of the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity, has issued a warning: “Today it was refrigerators; tomorrow it could be routers, and the day after, household appliances.”

Investigations to identify those responsible are underway. But, as Defense Minister Guido Crosetto points out, “The disadvantage with these kinds of attacks is that they are considered below the threshold of open conflict. No one can attribute them, no one can say where they actually originate, even though everyone knows they come from a particular country.”

In the case of the refrigerator sabotage, France has pointed the finger at Tehran and the “Shahid Kaveh” cell, which is linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Iran has rejected the accusations. “Unable to manage its refrigerators, let alone address the grievances of its own population, the French government is blaming others for its failures,” Tehran said.

Meanwhile, the pro-Russian hacker group NoName057(16) has issued fresh threats against Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. At Italy's request, the group could be added to the European Union's list of terrorist organizations.

“We will find you. It's only a matter of time,” reads the message posted by the group on Telegram.

Tajani, along with prosecutors, journalists and European public figures branded “enemies of the Russian Federation,” has been targeted by a virtual tribunal set up by the group on the dark web. The hackers published his personal information and offered a bitcoin reward to anyone who could provide sensitive information useful for targeting him. Their post also mocked the Minister over his support for Ukraine and included references to his private life and family.

The pro-Russian hacker group NoName057(16) has issued fresh threats against Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani

It ended with a warning: “At our ‘Tribunal,’ we carefully select our ‘clients.’ Anyone who has appeared, or will appear, on this ‘honor roll’ must accept that sooner or later the ‘reward’ will find them.”

Tajani has little doubt that the attacks are linked to the Italian government's position on Ukraine. His accusations prompted a war of words with the Russian Embassy in Italy, which dismissed them as “a tragicomic vaudeville entirely staged by the most aggressive and militaristic faction of Italy's political elite, solely to ‘sell’ yet another package of military and financial aid to Zelensky's corrupt regime.”

Italy's foreign minister responded bluntly: “Propaganda and disinformation. You only have to read a few history books to understand what this is about.”