Hackers target Italian parliament email, including Meloni's inbox

What was targeted

Hackers targeted the electronic communication system of the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Italian parliament, in the days before 27 October 2026. The attack reached the mailboxes of several legislators, among them Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in her role as a deputy. Corriere della Sera reported that three accounts were breached in total: Meloni's, that of Andrea Delmastro, a former undersecretary of justice and a senior figure in Fratelli d'Italia, and that of Paolo Formentini, a deputy for the League. Europa Press, citing the agency Adnkronos, reported that the official messaging channel was left intact.

Conflicting accounts of access

Reports differ on whether the intruders actually got inside. Europa Press says the hackers managed to access the mailboxes of several legislators. A source within the Chamber, cited by Reuters, said Meloni's account was among those targeted but did not say whether access was achieved, and Greek outlet Naftemporiki carried the same account of that source. Meloni's office confirmed the attack to Repubblica while insisting the affected address is not used for government business.

Official response

The Chamber's press office downgraded the incident, saying it does not amount to an emergency and that similar attacks happen daily. The Chamber said it had activated all available protection measures in cooperation with the National Cybersecurity Agency (ACN), with which it has a specific protocol. Those measures may include temporarily switching off some functions of the systems if that is judged necessary to protect them. Meloni's office said the parliamentary address was not the one used for government communications, which run through a separate account protected by the security systems of Palazzo Chigi.

Investigation and open questions

Rome prosecutors are awaiting a first report from the Polizia Postale, the postal police, according to ANSA. They are set to open an investigation file for unauthorised access to a computer system. Officials have not said how the intrusion happened, what information may have been exposed, or whether it reached other systems or users. Sources cited in the reporting said there is not yet enough evidence to attribute the episode to a foreign state. An institutional mailbox that is not used day to day can still hold correspondence, attachments and contacts, and can be used as a starting point for attacks on other accounts.

A wider pattern of attacks

Chamber sources said similar attempts have intensified in the days before 27 October against other national, European and international institutions. In September 2026, the German party AfD suffered a leak of nearly 500,000 emails from its accounts. In October, a cyberattack disabled cooling systems at numerous French supermarkets, forcing stores to discard large quantities of food. Reports note that cyberattacks have multiplied across Italy and Europe in recent years, targeting governments, infrastructure and companies, disrupting services and raising fears of data compromise.