Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani today inaugurated the new “CSIRT” (Computer Security Incident we Team) operations room at the Foreign Ministry, equipped with specialized technologies aimed at strengthening the monitoring and analysis of the Administration’s cybersecurity events.
In government administrations, the CSIRT is a team specialising in the management, analysis and response to cybersecurity incidents, operating both reactively (attack management) and proactively (prevention). In Italy, the National CSIRT operates within the National Cybersecurity Agency. The ACN makes use of peripheral nodes, including the CSIRT of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Foreign Ministry’s ‘Cyber Room’ allows for the organic and structured management of any incidents that may undermine the security of systems and information, as well as the identification, analysis, and internal reporting of vulnerabilities in the systems. It also defines technical response actions, coordinates their implementation, and updates the systems involved. The CSIRT Room is operational 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
From January 1, 2026, to date, the Room has handled over 150,000 attacks, including 30 Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks against Ministerial websites and web services. The main types of threats detected from outside also include phishing, spear phishing, and SPAM campaigns (approximately 150,000 messages, with approximately 10 million messages coming from malicious sources).
The installation follows the project proposal submitted to the National Cybersecurity Agency (ACN) for the creation of a dedicated CSIRT, aimed at strengthening the Foreign Ministry’s capabilities to detect, respond to, and counter cyber threats, jointly with CSIRT Italia. The project was entirely funded by the Department for Digital Transformation, through the ACN, with funds from the PNRR.
During the inauguration, Minister Tajani said: “We are living in times of hybrid warfare. Thanks to the work of the Cyber Room officials, last week’s attack on the websites of around 120 offices, including the Embassy in Washington, was neutralized without disruption. In this way, we are protecting our offices, the portal for consular services abroad, and even systems connected to the Milan-Cortina Olympics. We will continue to address cyber challenges both in terms of protecting the national interest and in the context of international cooperation and the promotion of Italian companies in the sector, which are always involved in the business forums we organize.”
