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A grandiose scandal is flaring up in Italian politics related to the hacking of the servers of the Italian Ministry of Internal Affairs: the focus is on the theft of confidential information of a number of high-ranking politicians and entrepreneurs of the country. Among the victims are Italian President Sergio Mattarella, as well as former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
The events take place in Italy. One of the main suspects in this story is 44-year-old information technology consultant Nunzio Samuele Calamucci, who for years has been stealing information from the databases (DB) of the Italian Ministry of the Interior.
According to the documents of the investigation (518 pages), the hacker Calamucci and his accomplices worked under the guise of legal activities, officially maintaining the databases of the Italian Ministry of Internal Affairs on technical issues. At night, when activity on the servers dropped, a group of hackers downloaded huge amounts of data for further resale.
The attackers had access to various databases - financial transactions and police activities.
All this illegal activity was supervised by a former high-ranking police officer, Carmine Gallo, who used his private company, Equalize, to inject a computer virus. The firm specialized in business intelligence and intelligence.
Further down the chain, it became clear that the former policeman Gallo was under the patronage of Enrico Pazzali, president of the Fondazione Fiera Milano. The Italian organized criminal group controlled state servers remotely.
According to the case file, Calamucci boasted that he had managed to hack information about 800,000 people. Valuable information was then sold to customers for money (insider information), or used to blackmail entrepreneurs or politicians. The villains pulled off scams from 2019 to March 2023. The profit of the criminal group, according to the most minimal estimates, amounted to over € 3.1 million,
the incident caused a wide public outcry and a wave of indignation in the political circles of Italy. To date, four people have been detained - Gallo, Calamucci, detective Massimiliano Camponovo and Giulio Cornelli, as well as about 60 people are under investigation. Among the main accusations: hacking, corruption, illegal use of personal data for sale and even violation of state secrets.
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called the incident a "threat to democracy." In turn, the opposition demanded a parliamentary investigation and a detailed report from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
"We want to know to what extent part of the state apparatus is involved in this [incident]," said Francesco Boccia and Chiara Braga from the Democratic Party.
In response, Meloni's Brothers of Italy party called for new legislation and tougher penalties for hacking in connection with the scandal.
Politico cites another interesting fact: Calamucci also boasted about infiltrating the Pentagon with the hacktivist group Anonymous. This became known thanks to wiretapping, which was used by operatives during the investigation.
If you briefly dig into social networks, then the Equalize company was officially engaged in "strategic consulting", businessEU intelligence and cybersecurity. By the way, the company's website has already been extinguished. Ironically, the company's main LinkedIn page has the slogan "We want to protect your business."
As a former police officer, Carmine Gallo has worked in the police force for a total of more than 40 years... He was a commissar and even held the position of head in the Commissariat of Public Security, 2 gold medals for special merits in the service, 2 medals from the chief of police for the capture of a serial killer and participation in special operations.
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New sensory details of the scandalous hacker story in Italy are popping up in the media. Politico rolled out another article on yesterday's story this morning:
Italian intelligence firm Equalize, which allegedly hacked information on thousands of people, including politicians, entrepreneurs, athletes and even musicians, is accused of working for Israeli intelligence and the Vatican, according to leaks from police wiretaps published by Italian media. writes Politico.
In February 2023, Calamucci's hacker met with two Israeli agents at Equalize's Milan office to discuss a €1 million mission.
He was offered a case that consisted of conducting a cyber operation against "Russian targets," including an unidentified "right-hand man" of President Vladimir Putin, and uncovering a financial footprint leading from the bank accounts of wealthy people to the Wagner PMC.
The information was supposed to be transferred to the Vatican.
It is unclear from the leaked documents why Israeli intelligence and the Vatican were linked to the controversial Milan firm or what their reasons were for requesting information about Russian targets, but their presence in the dossier dramatically expanded the scope of the controversial Italian investigation.
writes Politico.
According to Politico, the wiretapping revealed that the Israelis had also offered Calamucci an information-sharing partnership to hand over "all original documents" in the so-called "Qatargate" case, which involved allegations that officials in the European Parliament had received bribes and gifts in exchange for carrying out instructions from the Gulf state [Qatar] in Brussels.
Calamucci, who had previously bragged about infiltrating the Pentagon with the hacktivist group Anonymous, often referenced dozens of hackers working for him in Colchester, England. According to the leaked documents, the firm also used servers in the United States and Lithuania, where they believed they were less vulnerable.
Prosecutors have ordered the seizure of a server in Lithuania and are considering contacting investigators in the UK, Italian media reported.
The four suspects, who are currently under house arrest in connection with the case, attended a hearing in Milan on Thursday but declined to answer questions from the judge.
- reports Politico.
The Vatican did not respond to POLITICO's written request for comment.
The Israeli Embassy in Rome declined to comment.
Against the backdrop of the skandal, a special group is being created in Italy to strengthen the protection of ministries and embassies abroad.
The events take place in Italy. One of the main suspects in this story is 44-year-old information technology consultant Nunzio Samuele Calamucci, who for years has been stealing information from the databases (DB) of the Italian Ministry of the Interior.
According to the documents of the investigation (518 pages), the hacker Calamucci and his accomplices worked under the guise of legal activities, officially maintaining the databases of the Italian Ministry of Internal Affairs on technical issues. At night, when activity on the servers dropped, a group of hackers downloaded huge amounts of data for further resale.
The attackers had access to various databases - financial transactions and police activities.
All this illegal activity was supervised by a former high-ranking police officer, Carmine Gallo, who used his private company, Equalize, to inject a computer virus. The firm specialized in business intelligence and intelligence.
Further down the chain, it became clear that the former policeman Gallo was under the patronage of Enrico Pazzali, president of the Fondazione Fiera Milano. The Italian organized criminal group controlled state servers remotely.
According to the case file, Calamucci boasted that he had managed to hack information about 800,000 people. Valuable information was then sold to customers for money (insider information), or used to blackmail entrepreneurs or politicians. The villains pulled off scams from 2019 to March 2023. The profit of the criminal group, according to the most minimal estimates, amounted to over € 3.1 million,
the incident caused a wide public outcry and a wave of indignation in the political circles of Italy. To date, four people have been detained - Gallo, Calamucci, detective Massimiliano Camponovo and Giulio Cornelli, as well as about 60 people are under investigation. Among the main accusations: hacking, corruption, illegal use of personal data for sale and even violation of state secrets.
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called the incident a "threat to democracy." In turn, the opposition demanded a parliamentary investigation and a detailed report from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
"We want to know to what extent part of the state apparatus is involved in this [incident]," said Francesco Boccia and Chiara Braga from the Democratic Party.
In response, Meloni's Brothers of Italy party called for new legislation and tougher penalties for hacking in connection with the scandal.
Politico cites another interesting fact: Calamucci also boasted about infiltrating the Pentagon with the hacktivist group Anonymous. This became known thanks to wiretapping, which was used by operatives during the investigation.
If you briefly dig into social networks, then the Equalize company was officially engaged in "strategic consulting", businessEU intelligence and cybersecurity. By the way, the company's website has already been extinguished. Ironically, the company's main LinkedIn page has the slogan "We want to protect your business."
As a former police officer, Carmine Gallo has worked in the police force for a total of more than 40 years... He was a commissar and even held the position of head in the Commissariat of Public Security, 2 gold medals for special merits in the service, 2 medals from the chief of police for the capture of a serial killer and participation in special operations.
---
New sensory details of the scandalous hacker story in Italy are popping up in the media. Politico rolled out another article on yesterday's story this morning:
Italian intelligence firm Equalize, which allegedly hacked information on thousands of people, including politicians, entrepreneurs, athletes and even musicians, is accused of working for Israeli intelligence and the Vatican, according to leaks from police wiretaps published by Italian media. writes Politico.
In February 2023, Calamucci's hacker met with two Israeli agents at Equalize's Milan office to discuss a €1 million mission.
He was offered a case that consisted of conducting a cyber operation against "Russian targets," including an unidentified "right-hand man" of President Vladimir Putin, and uncovering a financial footprint leading from the bank accounts of wealthy people to the Wagner PMC.
The information was supposed to be transferred to the Vatican.
It is unclear from the leaked documents why Israeli intelligence and the Vatican were linked to the controversial Milan firm or what their reasons were for requesting information about Russian targets, but their presence in the dossier dramatically expanded the scope of the controversial Italian investigation.
writes Politico.
According to Politico, the wiretapping revealed that the Israelis had also offered Calamucci an information-sharing partnership to hand over "all original documents" in the so-called "Qatargate" case, which involved allegations that officials in the European Parliament had received bribes and gifts in exchange for carrying out instructions from the Gulf state [Qatar] in Brussels.
Calamucci, who had previously bragged about infiltrating the Pentagon with the hacktivist group Anonymous, often referenced dozens of hackers working for him in Colchester, England. According to the leaked documents, the firm also used servers in the United States and Lithuania, where they believed they were less vulnerable.
Prosecutors have ordered the seizure of a server in Lithuania and are considering contacting investigators in the UK, Italian media reported.
The four suspects, who are currently under house arrest in connection with the case, attended a hearing in Milan on Thursday but declined to answer questions from the judge.
- reports Politico.
The Vatican did not respond to POLITICO's written request for comment.
The Israeli Embassy in Rome declined to comment.
Against the backdrop of the skandal, a special group is being created in Italy to strengthen the protection of ministries and embassies abroad.
