A serious security breach involving the highest echelons of the Italian state is under the microscope of the authorities, following the revelation that telephone numbers of the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, and top ministers are being made available online for a monthly subscription fee of 50 euros.

The case was brought to light by journalist Andrea Mavila, a cybersecurity expert, via the newspaper “Fatto Quotidiano”, prompting the immediate mobilization of the Italian Electrocriminations Department and COPASIR, the parliamentary committee in charge of state security issues.

As reported in the article, the list in question includes, among other things, the personal number of the President of the Republic, Sergio Matarella – not the institutional one, but the one he uses to communicate with friends and family. Also available for the same price are the phone numbers of Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, Defence Minister Guido Crozeto, Interior Minister Mateo Piandozzi, and thousands of other state officials – over 20,000 contacts in total.

In particular, in addition to the contacts of Mattarella, Meloni and ministers Pianedozzi and Croseto, the database contains thousands of phone numbers that are still active. The figure is 2,125 contacts of the Presidential Council, 13,822 of the Ministry of Justice, 4,871 of the Ministry of the Interior, and 11,688 of the Ministry of Defence. However, the platforms do not stop at institutional leaders, as they still offer access to 3,805 state police officials, 6,301 Carabinieri, and 6,018 members of the Economic Police.

“This database is accessible online: it does not appear among the first results of searches, but can be found without special technical skills, explained Mavila. And this is the most worrying thing: the whole process does not take place on the dark web, nor does it require technical knowledge or bypassing security systems. “It’s all done in broad daylight,” through platforms, without any facade of illegality.

Russia, Israel, USA are behind the platforms

The investigation identified at least eight platforms and plugins that have this data. The three that were thoroughly tested by Mavila’s team appear to be based in Russia, Israel, and the United States.

Authorities did not release the names of the websites in order to avoid further amplifying traffic to them. However, according to sources, these are platforms that utilize legitimate commercial methods of data collection, but go out of bounds when they touch state officials and political figures.

Investigations

The Italian Cybercrime Directorate confirmed that it has launched investigations into the dissemination and legality of possession of this data. At the same time, the file has also reached COPASIR, the bipartisan parliamentary committee responsible for national security issues.

The committee was scheduled to meet this afternoon to discuss its activity report, but it is possible that it will also examine the leak case immediately.

The case raises political and institutional concerns, as it highlights the vulnerability of the state system to digital data commercialisation – even at the highest levels of power.