Pro-Russian hackers have used cyber-attacks to manipulate Ukraine's vote count during the May 10 semifinals and the May 14 Eurovision final held in Turin.
The news was announced by the Italian authorities, which announced that during the voting operations and the performances of the contestants, the authorities had managed to prevent several cyber attacks on the network infrastructure by the hacker group Killnet and the collaborators of this group, Legion.
The first prize of Eurovision 2022 was won by Ukraine with the song "Stefania" by the Kalusha orchestra.
Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, many Western governments have raised their alert levels over possible cyber-attacks on information technology systems and infrastructure. Last week, pro-Russian hackers attacked several websites of Italian institutions, including the Ministry of Defense and the Senate.
Several other reported attacks have reportedly disrupted the work of several institutions, including the National Institutes of Health website.
Italian media said that the pro-Kremlin group, Killnet, has admitted that it is behind the cyber attacks. In April, Killnet targeted the websites of the Romanian Government for its support of Ukraine in its fight against Russia.