Iren

Iren is an Italian multiutility company headquartered in Italy. It operates as a provider of integrated utility services within the country. The firm serves a range of customer segments including residential, commercial, and industrial users. Its business model combines multiple essential services under a single organisational structure. This positioning allows Iren to offer coordinated solutions for energy, water, and environmental management.

In December 2019, Iren experienced a significant cyberattack that originated from an unupdated employee workstation. The attack deployed cryptolocker malware, which encrypted critical systems and led to a prolonged operational shutdown. Services affected included customer archives, emergency response centres, email communications, access badges, call centres, and branch operations. While the public portal was partially restored after approximately one week, internal telephony and data access remained impaired for weeks. Unofficial estimates placed the financial impact between twenty‑five and thirty million euros, although the company publicly denied any material financial loss or data theft. Internal reports had previously highlighted unaddressed system vulnerabilities that could enable such intrusions. Following the incident, Iren filed criminal complaints with the Genoa prosecutor’s office and the relevant data‑privacy authorities.