Italy’s Lazio region’s vaccination registration system down after IT systems were disabled by ransomware attack

On Sunday 1st of August 2021, one of Italy’s largest regions, Lazio region experienced a ransomware attack that caused the region’s IT systems to be disabled. It meant Lazio residents were not able to book new vaccination appointments through the region’s COVID-19 vaccination registration portal as it was also taken down by the attack.

Nicola Zingaretti, the region’s president confirmed that a cyber-attack had occurred and that the attack caused nearly every file in the system’s data centre to be inaccessible so therefore they had decided to shut down the servers of the regional health network to prevent any further spread of the ransomware.

Currently, no cybercriminal group has been identified yet, although it was clear that the threat actors had the goal of demanding a ransom for files in the region’s data centre. But Nicola Zingaretti confirmed that the region’s health, financial and budget data are safe.