ROME -- Italy has foiled a series of cyberattacks targeting Winter Olympics websites and hotels in Cortina d'Ampezzo as well as some of the country's foreign ministry offices, including one in Washington, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Wednesday.
Talking to reporters during a trip to the U.S. capital, Tajani said the attempted attacks were "of Russian origin" but didn't provide additional details.
"We prevented a series of cyberattacks against foreign ministry sites, starting with Washington, and also involving some Winter Olympics sites, including hotels in Cortina," Tajani said, speaking ahead of Friday's opening ceremony at Milan's San Siro stadium.
The Winter Olympics got underway Wednesday with the first curling matches in Cortina.
Italy's interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi, told parliament Wednesday that 6,000 security officers are being deployed across the Games sites -- which stretch from Milan to the Dolomites -- including bomb disposal experts, snipers and anti-terrorism units.