Rome:Emails threatening to bomb more than 6,300 schools in Italy have now spread to Scotland and Ireland, causing widespread concern and some school evacuations.
According to Thai News Agency, thousands of schools across Italy, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland received bomb threat emails simultaneously, prompting evacuations in some cases. European authorities have assessed these attacks as cyberattacks intended to incite panic, finding no concrete threats.
In Italy, officials disclosed that approximately 6,300 out of 7,476 public schools received threatening emails, leading to the evacuation of hundreds of schools for safety. Private schools were not affected. The emails were sent under a fake name, "Mikhail Andropov, Leader of Vilayat di Misoginistan."
Italy's Prime Minister, Giorgi Meloni, stated that investigations found no evidence of real danger, labeling the threats as an attempt to create public anxiety. The Italian Minister of Education suggested the incident was likely a cyberattack and part of a disruptive strategy targeting various sectors across Europe, including flights, supermarkets, and hospitals.
In the UK and Ireland, similar threatening emails were sent using the same fake name. Scottish police reported about 1,000 schools received the messages, while over 300 schools in Northern Ireland and numerous others in the Republic of Ireland were affected. Despite the threats, most schools remained open after police assessed there was no risk to the public, with only a few schools opting for evacuations or allowing early pickups.
Cybercrime units in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Ireland confirmed the emails originated from overseas and are actively investigating the source, including the database from which the school names were obtained.
This incident follows recent events where Italian airports and European airlines faced fake bomb threats, disrupting operations. Some European officials previously suspected Russian involvement in these destabilizing acts against Western nations supporting Ukraine. Iran is also under suspicion, with France accusing it of a cyberattack on supermarket refrigeration systems, though both Russia and Iran have denied these allegations.