One of the sons of Luxottica boss
Leonardo Del Vecchio, Leonardo Maria, has been placed under
investigation in a Milanese mafia probe into alleged wide-scale
snooping by secretly compiling dossiers on people, judicial
sources said Saturday.
Banker Matteo Arpe is also among those probed in the case, which
on Friday led to the arrests of six people, they said.
Thousands of pieces of information were taken from the national
strategic databases, according to the investigations of the DDA
anti-mafia investigative directorate of Milan and the DNA
national anti-mafia office that on Friday led to 6 precautionary
measures, including house arrest for the former 'super
policeman' Carmine Gallo.
Those under investigation are accused of complicity in the
illegal access of the alleged organization, composed of hackers,
IT consultants and members of the police force and also centered
on illegal wiretapping.
The investigation also involves former employees of an
investigation company, SKP of Milan.
National Anti-Mafia Prosecutor Giovanni Melillo, national
anti-mafia prosecutor said the case had revealed a gigantic and
alarming market of confidential data.
"This investigation allows us to connect some dots and better
understand this gigantic market of confidential information with
entrepreneurial dimension in the acquisition of confidential
information, he said.
Addressing a press conference on the investigation, Melillo
spoke of an "alarming affair".
Justice Minister Carlo Nordio said hackers are increasingly
ahead of the police and laws must be aligned and brought up to
speed in order to better combat them.
"The bad guys are increasingly ahead of the States themselves,
they even managed to hack the Kremlin, we must activate efforts
to align the current legislation but also use our imagination
because we must foresee what the bad guys will be able to do",
he said.
"I believe that we are not safe and will not be safe until the
law on the one hand and the technology at our disposal have
managed to align with the technology available to crime".
Nordio reiterated: "Generally speaking, technology is advancing
faster than the laws, it has done so in all sectors, starting
with bioethics.
"The ill-intentioned are always a little ahead of the States,
they have even managed to hack the Kremlin.
"We must activate our efforts to align the current legislation,
which we are already doing, and use our imagination to predict,
without having to chase the ill-intentioned".
Artificial Intelligence brings a greater risk of data
manipulation, Nordio added.
"We are all exposed to the risk of dossiers: the real problem
that will arise is not so much that of data capture, but soon
and perhaps already now with Artificial Intelligence it will be
possible to manipulate this data and it will be even worse: it
will be easy to create a sort of virtual reality in a very short
time", said the minister.
Milan Chief Prosecutor Marcello Viola told the press conference
that most of the illegal snooping involved the Italian economic
world.
"The most relevant front seems to be the world of economics and
entrepreneurship," said Viola.
"At the moment there are no significant emergencies that lead to
the world of politics".
Nordio, meanwhile, also said that a recent vast bank spying case
involving a rogue employee of Italy's biggest bank had
backfired.
The State attorney's office in the Puglia city of Bari is
investigating a former employee of Intesa Sanpaolo bank who
allegedly "illicitly" accessed nearly 7,000 times the bank
accounts of VIP clients including Meloni, her former partner,
journalist Andrea Giambruno, Senate Speaker Ignazio La Russa,
Meloni's sister Arianna, head of the secretariat of her
rightwing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, Defence Minister Guido
Crosetto, Tourism Minister Daniela Santanchè ,National
Anti-Mafia Prosecutor Giovanni Melillo, members of the military,
and top footballers and entertainment figures.
Asked if there was a plot against the government as denounced by
Meloni, Nordio replied: "Looking at the results of these
investigations, I certainly agree with the Prime Minister.
"There was a dossier aimed at people of high political standing.
That was the intention but then the results proved to be
counterproductive for those who activated that operation," said
Nordio.
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