Italian City of Palermo Shuts Down All Systems To Fend Off Cyberattack

Palermo in Southern Italy, home to about 1.3 million people, has shut down all its services, public websites, and online portals following a cyberattack on Friday. BleepingComputer reports: It's impossible to communicate or request any service that relies on digital systems, and all citizens have to use obsolete fax machines to reach public offices. Moreover, tourists cannot access online bookings for tickets to museums and theaters (Massimo Theater) or even confirm their reservations on sports facilities. Finally, limited traffic zone cards are impossible to acquire, so no regulation occurs, and no fines are issued for relevant violations. Unfortunately, the historical city center requires these passes for entrance, so tourists and local residents are severely impacted. Italy recently received threats from the Killnet group, a pro-Russian hacktivist who attacks countries that support Ukraine with resource-depleting cyberattacks known as DDoS (distributed denial of service). While some were quick to point the finger at Killnet, the cyberattack on Palermo bears the signs of a ransomware attack rather than a DDoS. The councilor for innovation in the municipality of Palermo, Paolo Petralia Camassa, has stated that all systems were cautiously shut down and isolated from the network while he also warned that the outage might last for a while.

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