The main datacentre of the Lazio region was hit by a ransomware attack on August 1, which rendered its COVID-19 vaccination booking platform inaccessible.
Luckily, the data was encrypted and technicians were able to restore the stolen information from a backup copy.
On August 18, the healthcare agency of the Tuscany region was also a victim of cybercrime, with statistical and epidemiological data destroyed by criminals.
Corporations such as Campari, Geox, Luxottica and Enel Group have also been targeted, along with hospitals including the Spallanzani in Rome and the San Raffaele in Milan.
In recent days, the national Italian health system has been threatened by an international hacker group.
The list of potential crimes has been published by the Groove Cyber Crime Group, a criminal crew that has been in conflict with American cybersecurity agencies.
It is alleged that the group responsible for the threats could be Russian-based gang Revil, who are believed to have attacked the Colonial Pipeline in the United States, in May.
Italian health sector sources reported that the national cybersecurity agency alerted potential targets of the possible risks and suggested counter-measures to be taken in advance.
After such a tumultuous year of cybercrime, the EU-funded National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) is set to take action against an increasing amount of attacks.
Total funding for the plan amounts to €261 billion, of which €11,15 billion will be allocated for the “digitalization, innovation and security of the public administration”.
