Police in Italy have revealed they were able to stop a cyber attack bu pro-Russian hackers on the Eurovision Song Contest semi-final on 10th May as well as Saturday’s Grand Final.
During voting and the performances, the police cybersecurity department said it blocked several cyber attacks on network infrastructure by the Killnet hacker group and its affiliate Legion, reports Reuters.
Both groups have denied they were responsible.
As the results were announced on Saturday, the European Broadcasting Union revealed that they had recalculated the jury scores of six countries because of “irregular” voting.
The scores were recalculated to give a “substitute aggregated result for each country concerned”, the EBU said. The organisation did not reveal the details of the irregularities.
Meanwhile, following Ukraine’s win on Saturday, the European Broadcasting Union has said it will not begin planning for the 2023 event with winning broadcaster UA:PBC.
“Obviously, there are unique challenges involved in hosting next year’s competition,” said Martin Österdahl, the EBU’s executive supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest said.
“However, as in any other year, we look forward to discussing all the requirements and responsibilities involved in hosting the competition with UA:PBC and all other stakeholders to ensure we have the most suitable setup for the 67th Eurovision Song Contest.”
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky said: “Ukraine will be hosting Eurovision next year. For the third time in its history, and I trust not for the last time.
“We will do our best so that Ukraine’s Mariupol, a liberated, peaceful city that has been rebuilt will host guests and participants of Eurovision one day.”