Just a few hours after the inauguration ceremony, scheduled for tomorrow in Milan , the first competitions of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics get underway today, with the Italian debut in curling.

The security measures in place are noteworthy, with cyber attacks foiled by Italian security forces on some hotels in Cortina, as revealed yesterday by the Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, who underlined that these were "actions of Russian origin". The group of well-known pro-Russian hackers Noname057(16) claimed responsibility for them, having acted with Ddos intrusions (Distributed denial of service, a site is blocked by flooding it with access requests).

"The Italian government's pro-Ukrainian policy means that supporting Ukrainian terrorists is punishable by our DDoS missiles," reads the claim signed by the pro-Russian crew, whose other targets include the Italian embassy in Washington, and the Italian consulates in Sydney, Toronto, and Paris.

This type of attack was anticipated for Milano Cortina 2026, but so far it hasn't had any significant impact thanks to a complex machine protecting the Games' cyberspace, located in the 24-hour Technology Operations Centre. The Milano Cortina Foundation is collaborating with Deloitte, the national cybersecurity agency, which has sent ten technicians and specialists from the Postal and Communications Police to the Lombardy capital to identify anomalies and intervene.

PROCESSION ALERT – Surveillance will be far less virtual and more physical for another event with unpredictable consequences: the protest march scheduled for Saturday in Milan, the first with significant numbers since the riots at the Turin demonstration. It will therefore be an afternoon of maximum alert, and the deployment of law enforcement is described as "massive," with several hundred officers mobilized, rising to well over a thousand if the numerous Olympic services are included. Protesters from other cities are likely, and the presence of Turin-based Askatasuna activists cannot be ruled out. The police and Carabinieri, however, have not seen any signs of particular tension, and in any case, they will be ready "for any eventuality."