Fake bomb-threat emails hit about 6,300 schools in Italy, similar messages in Scotland; Meloni calls emergency meeting

Fake bomb-threat emails have been sent simultaneously to about 6,300 schools across Italy, prompting school buildings in various parts of the country to be evacuated. Authorities in Scotland and Northern Ireland also reported receiving the same type of threat emails, creating security concern across Europe.

On Wednesday (11 November), Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said there was currently no real danger or risk to the country's schools. Given the seriousness of the matter, however, she called an emergency meeting with cabinet members to review the situation and determine security measures.

The Reuters news agency obtained a copy of a threat email. It also contained a direct threat against Prime Minister Meloni. The sender used the name 'Mikhail Andropov' and described himself as the leader of the 'Vilayat of Misogynistan'.

The same name was also used last week in bomb-threat emails sent to media offices in Ireland and Bulgaria.

Italy's education minister Giuseppe Valditara said at least 300 schools were initially known to have been affected by the threat, but the number of institutions involved could rise further. He said there was a planned strategy behind it, that those involved could not yet be confirmed, and that intelligence agencies were working to identify them.

Valditara said there was no reason to panic. Analysis of the emails' contents suggested a cyber attack or a planned attempt to create panic rather than a real bomb threat, he said.

Meanwhile, schools in Scotland and Northern Ireland also received the same type of threat emails on Wednesday. Northern Ireland's education authority said schools were instructed to stay open because police did not consider the threat credible. The new message also resembled a fake threat email sent last month, which the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) had already declared a hoax.

Police Scotland also said the emails sent to schools were not being treated as a credible threat and were believed to be hoaxes. The force's cyber and fraud unit is working to identify the source of the messages, and contact is being maintained with UK and international agencies. Earlier, on 19 October, schools in Scotland were also sent mass bomb-threat emails in the same manner.

The new security alert came amid concern across Europe over cyber attacks and hybrid warfare threats targeting supermarkets, blood banks, air traffic control systems and television broadcasters. Alongside the bomb threats, cyber attacks have also increased in various European countries in recent times. Some commercial flights have had to change course because of these incidents, and some aircraft were landed and kept under fighter-jet escort, according to the report.

In addition, refrigeration temperatures were raised at several supermarkets in Germany, Romania and the UK. Hackers are alleged to have deliberately changed fridge temperatures in an attempt to spoil food. A similar cyber attack hit hundreds of supermarkets in France in October.

Paris has blamed Iran for the French attack. The French government summoned Iran's ambassador this week over the incident. Tehran, however, rejected the allegation as baseless and hostile. After France's accusation, suspicion has also arisen over possible Iranian involvement behind the fake bomb threats sent to Italian schools.