Milan prosecutors revealed a network of hackers and former law enforcement officials accused of breaching several government databases, according to Euractiv.
The hackers allegedly accessed more than 800,000 confidential records, targeting even accounts linked to the president’s office. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated:
No state governed by the rule of law can tolerate this.
The investigation by Milan’s anti-mafia prosecutor Francesco De Tommasi reveals links between an alleged criminal network and high-ranking officials in various sectors, including organised crime, Italian and foreign intelligence.
On Saturday, prosecutors said the operation was allegedly carried out by private investigative firm Equalise and was structured in a “cluster format.” Each participant had contacts in law enforcement and other government agencies, allegedly used to gain illegal access to information.
One of the major revelations concerns a suspected intrusion into a Home Office data centre. Nunzio Calamucci, an alleged key operative in the network and associate of Equalize’s CEO, said the access was based on a two-pronged strategy.
We have a huge advantage with this setup for the time being, although that won’t last forever. We’ve got four and a half years’ worth of data lead.
Another significant leak may be linked to the office of Italian President Sergio Mattarella. An overheard conversation from October 2022 shows Calamucci telling former senior police officer Carmine Gallo that he had “accessed or cloned” an email address belonging to Mattarella.
Prosecutors said the seized hard drives supposedly contained extensive police database records known as SDI data. They also included up to 15 terabytes of classified information, according to prosecutors. Meloni said no state based on the rule of law could tolerate the illegal collection of files.
Regarding the dossiers, I expect the judiciary to investigate fully. In the best-case scenario, this was a system of blackmail and extortion, but in the worst case, we are dealing with the crime of subversion.
Meanwhile, the Bari Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation against a former Intesa Sanpaolo employee accused of unauthorised access to VIP bank accounts almost 7,000 times. Among those allegedly targeted were Meloni herself, Senate President Ignazio La Russa, Meloni’s sister Arianna and two government ministers.
