Expert says school bomb threats may never be traced

Bomb threats sent to thousands of schools in Italy, as well as threats in Northern Ireland and Scotland, may never be traced to their source, an expert told Yle.

The threats have been considered hoaxes in all three places, but schools were evacuated in Italy and Northern Ireland. No bombs have been found in schools so far.

Panu Moilanen, an information influence and digital security expert at the University of Jyväskylä, said the threats could be linked to false threats against aircraft last week. But he said copying others was also common in hoax threats.

Italian newspaper Il Messaggero reported that the threats were signed with the same name seen in recent threats against aircraft.

Moilanen said investigators might never identify who was behind the threats. He said it was not possible to assume Russia was responsible, noting that strong assessments had also linked cyberattacks involving refrigeration equipment to Iran.

He expects similar threats to continue. Even when threats do not materialise, authorities cannot ignore them, he said. The aim could also be to influence how authorities respond, including the scale of their response.