Salt Typhoon breach IBM subsidiary in Italy: a warning for Europe’s digital defenses

In late April 2026, the Italian cybersecurity landscape was shaken by a significant breach targeting Sistemi Informativi, a company wholly owned by IBM Italy that provides IT infrastructure management for key public and private institutions. The incident, first reported by La Repubblica, has raised fresh concerns about the growing reach of Chinese-linked cyber operations in Europe.

Sistemi Informativi is central to Italy’s digital infrastructure, managing systems for public agencies and key industries. Its outage quickly raised alarms among cybersecurity authorities and critical infrastructure operators.

IBM confirmed the security breach through an official statement, acknowledging that it had “identified and contained a cybersecurity incident” and had activated incident response protocols involving both in-house and external specialists. The company said systems are now stable and services restored, but gave no details on the breach’s scope. Its website stayed offline for hours during containment.

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