Italy says nearly 2,000 schools have received bomb threats over past two days

Italy's government reported that 1,803 schools received bomb threats via email on Thursday, following 6,300 threats on Wednesday, prompting evacuations and new security protocols. Prime Minister Meloni met with opposition leaders, who criticized cybersecurity spending. Similar threats in Ireland and Scotland were treated as hoaxes.

Italy's government said on Thursday that 1,803 schools had been targeted by emails containing bomb threats, marking a second day of mass threat emails that forced evacuations across the country. On Wednesday, about 6,300 schools received similar threats, part of a series of hoaxes and cyberattacks targeting schools, supermarkets, blood banks, air traffic systems and broadcasters across Europe. In response, the Italian government announced new measures for handling security alerts, under which buildings would generally not be evacuated unless there is concrete evidence of danger. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called opposition leaders for talks on how to deal with such incidents. Opposition leaders criticized Meloni for inadequate investment in cybersecurity, with former prime minister Matteo Renzi saying the alarm could have been dealt with using a good antivirus program. Authorities in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland also received similar threatening emails but classified them as hoaxes and allowed classes to continue. Some European officials suspect Russia may be behind the campaign, but Italian officials have said there is no evidence of that.