A new wave of bomb threats sent by email reached 3,778 schools in Italy, the office of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said after a technical-level meeting of the Committee for the Security of the Republic. This is the second consecutive day that schools across the country have received identical messages.
According to data cited by the Italian government, 77 schools were evacuated on November 12. Classes resumed that same morning in 36 of them. Checks were carried out at other educational institutions while students and staff remained inside the buildings. No explosive devices or actual danger were reported.
The new messages were signed with the name “Mikhail Andropov” — the same name used in the threats sent the previous day. According to initial data, the emails sent on November 12 came from different addresses with domains in the Philippines. The messages sent on November 11 came from accounts with domains in Thailand.
The first wave affected around 6,300 schools
On November 11, more than 6,300 Italian schools received threats. Hundreds of educational institutions were evacuated, and police searched the buildings. Italy’s Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara said that the large number of affected schools made the possibility of a real threat almost nonexistent.
“Whoever is sending them wants our fear, missed days, suspicion and chaos,” Meloni said in a video message after a meeting with the government, security services and cybersecurity experts. She added that Italian authorities were working with European partners to determine the origin of the threats. So far, the authorities have not attributed the attacks to any particular organization or country.
New evacuation rules
Following the first day, the government ordered prefects and school principals to keep classes running unless there were specific and well-founded reasons for an evacuation. The aim is to prevent mass anonymous emails from disrupting the work of schools and other public services.
Antonello Giannelli, president of the association of Italian school principals, called on the Education Ministry to introduce systems for filtering messages and identifying recurring patterns. He said a central channel was also needed to warn schools in real time in the event of a coordinated attack.
Anti-terrorism prosecutors in Rome have launched an investigation into the threats received by schools in the capital. The case concerns aggravated threats and making a false alarm and has been opened against an unknown perpetrator. The new series follows other bomb threats targeting flights and media outlets in Europe, as well as cyberattacks against infrastructure and public systems.
Sources: videoembed.ansa.it, apnews.com, euronews.com