Bomb alerts on planes, another day of chaos. Meloni: "we are worried"

It was expected, and it arrived right on time. For the second consecutive day, a wave of false bomb alarms has thrown Europe's skies into chaos, with flights diverted, escorted by fighter jets and swept on arrival, just as a series of false reports were delivered to the newsrooms of some twenty media outlets across Ireland, the United Kingdom and Bulgaria. The intelligence services expected it — indeed, the reasoning goes, in a sense it could not have been otherwise. A swatting campaign — that is the jargon term — does not require major resources. To send an avalanche of false alarms about sensitive targets, all it takes is a series of stolen or anonymized accounts — several providers offer them — and private or encrypted connections that shield the origin of the internet or phone traffic. The ones identified in the initial investigations are of an advanced level, but for swatting to be effective that is not even necessary. And the result is maximal: security services mobilized, economic damage, but above all panic and disorientation among the population. It is a phenomenon that intelligence agencies have long been monitoring with concern: the attacks are increasing at a dizzying pace. In the last year alone, the Department of Homeland Security states, attacks on US schools have risen by 540%. Protocols for identifying the nature of the messages, forms to identify suspicious users and filters exist and are being worked on, but when sensitive targets are involved, caution is a must. That is why, at the end of yet another day of false alarms, all that can be done is take stock. With 9 flights monitored, Prague was the airport put under the most stress, four others in Madrid, two in Italy, and more in Brussels, Paris and Sofia. In total there were at least 22, adding to the 25 aircraft disturbed by false bomb alarms the day before, the seven on November 2, and the single report on November 1, in a month complicated by attacks on cooling systems across Europe and waves of false alarms in schools in Italy, Serbia, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Hungary. To the chaos in the skies, yesterday was added an attempt to throw the media into disarray, with at least ten Irish radio stations, TV channels and newspapers evacuated and swept. Bomb alarms in European skies, the plane's landing and the security procedures That this is an evolution of the previous day's "attack" on the aviation sector is claimed in an email delivered to several Irish, British and Bulgarian media outlets by the self-proclaimed head of the Russian neo-Nazi organization Male Legion, which had claimed the first attacks. "This is only the beginning. Very soon we will blow up your planes, cruise ships, subway stations and trains," promises Mikhail Andropov. A name, analysts point out, that evokes that of the historic head of the KGB who later became head of the party, but of which no trace seems to exist on the movement's still-active channels. It is precisely on those channels that the founder, Vladislav Pozdnyakov, denies any involvement of the organization: "It no longer exists." All elements to be taken with a grain of salt, analysts and investigators suggest, increasingly inclined to read a single design and strategy in the swarm of alarms and attacks, but probably carried out by different actors who are not in conflict with one another. "For now, however," explains a source close to the case file, "there are no concrete elements." Next week in Brussels, the aviation security experts of the 27 countries will meet to discuss the necessary response and prevention measures, but for now, the EU Transport Commission confirms, "it is up to the national authorities to proceed." In Italy, the prosecutors' offices of Milan, Busto Arsizio and Rome are proceeding for false alarm, but the work is also being closely followed by the National Anti-Mafia and Anti-Terrorism Directorate. A different matter for the hacker attack on the cooling systems: national prosecutor Giovanni Melillo has decided to take over the coordination of the investigations of the offices involved. The wave of hacker attacks and false alarms "says that civilian infrastructure is under attack," says a worried Prime Minister Meloni, while Spanish Foreign Minister Albares speaks of "an attempt at hybrid aggression and psychological warfare." Meanwhile, concern is growing in Europe over the summits that will bring together at least 50 EU leaders in Dublin on Thursday and Friday. "Adequate response protocols are being developed," assures Prime Minister Micheál Martin. But the path to identifying the origin of the threat, however, seems to be all uphill.