Cyberattack Targets Data of Brenner Base Tunnel Project Between Austria and Italy

A cyberattack targeted the "Brenner Base Tunnel" railway project, according to BBT SE, the company responsible for the project linking Austria and Italy.

The company stated that unknown individuals gained access to parts of the data available online, as reported by the German Press Agency (dpa).

It clarified that the targeted cyberattack, which occurred in mid-October last year, did not pose any risk to the construction works of the 64-kilometer-long tunnel or its future operation.

The company noted that highly sensitive data was not affected by the attack. It provided no information regarding the identity of potential perpetrators or the motives behind the attack.

Since the headquarters of BBT SE are located in Bolzano, northern Italy, authorities in Rome have taken over the investigation into the attack on the "Brenner Base Tunnel," which is considered one of Europe's important infrastructure projects.

The anticipated tunnel, costing €11.7 billion, is scheduled to begin operations from 2034, significantly reducing travel time between Germany and Italy.

Another Attack

In a related context, the "Fehmarn Belt Tunnel" project, connecting Germany and Denmark, also suffered a cyberattack in mid-October last year.

The supervising company announced that the attack targeting the contractor, "Femern Link Contractors," temporarily affected several IT systems at the construction site.

The tunnel, approximately 18 kilometers long, is set to connect the German island of Fehmarn in the Baltic Sea with the Danish island of Lolland, reducing train travel time between Hamburg and Copenhagen to about two and a half hours.