Email bomb threats hit schools across Europe; hundreds evacuated in Italy

Rastinews — The emails sent to Italian schools claimed a remotely detonated bomb had been planted in the building. Students, teachers and staff were evacuated from schools in cities including Rome, Milan, Naples and Genoa. Police searched the buildings.

Italy's Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara told La7 television that around 300 schools had received the emails and that the number could rise. Some Italian broadcasters reported the message had reached 6,000 schools, a figure that has not been officially confirmed.

Valditara said there was no concrete risk. Targeting so many schools at once, he said, undermined the threat's credibility. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called an emergency meeting at the Chigi Palace with government, intelligence and National Cybersecurity Agency officials.

An unknown signature

The emails were signed "Mikhail Andropov, leader of the Misogynistan Vilayet." No person or group by that name was previously known. According to Italian government sources, the messages carry the same signature as emails sent to several European airlines and television networks in recent weeks.

Italy's Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said the threats were part of a strategy designed to sow unease, and that such incidents would increase.

Schools stayed open in Northern Ireland

More than 300 schools in Northern Ireland received similar emails in the morning. Deputy Chief Constable Anthony McNally of the Police Service of Northern Ireland said initial findings pointed to a low risk to the public. The Department of Education advised schools to remain open unless police issued a warning to the contrary.

Northern Ireland's Education Authority said the messages resembled threats sent to roughly 300 schools last month that turned out to be hoaxes.

Police Scotland likewise said the emails sent to schools were being treated as hoax threats. Some schools in the Republic of Ireland received the same messages. According to Deutsche Welle, citing dpa, Reuters and AFP, there was no general evacuation of schools in the UK or Ireland.

Same message sent 9 days earlier

On 2 November, an email with nearly identical wording had already been sent to 271 Italian schools. That message was signed in the name of the "Islamic Revolutionary Guard Army."

In recent months, supermarket refrigeration systems and blood banks in Europe have also been targeted by cyberattacks, fueling concern on the continent over hybrid threats.