Alleged Unauthorised Computer Access by Magistrates, Searches Executed
Milan prosecutor investigates with Anti-mafia Prosecutor's Office, focus on Turin district
Intrusions into magistrates' computers, Milan Prosecutor's Office executes searches
Three episodes of suspected computer intrusions into the computers of two magistrates from the Turin judicial district, including prosecutor Giovanni Bombardieri. This is reported by ANSA Cronaca, which reconstructs an investigation launched by the Milan Prosecutor's Office following a report by the Ministry of Justice itself.
The file was opened several months ago by prosecutors Enrico Pavone and Francesca Celle, under the direction of prosecutor Marcello Viola. Last March, in agreement with the National Anti-mafia and Counter-terrorism Prosecutor Giovanni Melillo, residential and computer searches were carried out.
The ECM system and administrator credentials
At the centre of the investigation is the ECM system, software adopted in 2019 by the Ministry of Justice and installed on approximately 40,000 computers belonging to magistrates and clerks for maintenance and remote updates. The programme allegedly would have permitted access to devices through login passwords without users noticing and without leaving any trace.
According to the prosecutors, investigative checks "became necessary because, from initial findings, it emerged that the computer intrusions occurred through system breach made possible by possession of administrator credentials". The suspects are three technicians from a company contracted for maintenance services, who possessed such credentials by virtue of computer assistance contracts signed by the Ministry with third-party firms. The Ministry's offices announced the decommissioning of the system in recent days, after it had become the subject of controversy following an investigation by the television programme Report.
The Tirone case and prosecutor Bombardieri
The first episode that emerged in recent months concerns an alleged "test" on the computer of the judge for preliminary investigations in Alessandria, Aldo Tirone, conducted via a technician. The prosecutors are now verifying whether the two cases targeting prosecutor Bombardieri's computer were also tests of system vulnerability or genuine accesses intended to "spy on" devices containing sensitive data and information covered by investigative secrecy.
One of the two episodes involving the head of the Turin Prosecutor's Office was covered in the latest episode of Report, presented by Sigfrido Ranucci. The programme interviewed a former technician — identified as Stefano — from the firm that carried out maintenance work, who has since been dismissed. The suspect is accused of violating Bombardieri's computer and subsequently sending an email in his name.
The former technician, however, offered a different version: "The prosecutor had asked for the installation of a colour printer on his computer, complete with an intervention ticket. Which I carried out as per procedure. At the end of the installation this email was sent. I never entered his mailbox. A glaring misunderstanding, I hope the prosecutor is informed of this". According to what has been reported, it was Bombardieri himself who noticed the anomalies in his own device and reported them.
Forensic analysis ongoing, no cases in Milan
The Milan Prosecutor's Office clarified that the evidence collected so far by the Postal Police does not lead to suspecting "any intrusion" by Ministry officials. Forensic analysis of the devices seized during the March searches is still underway.
Coordination of the checks at national level is entrusted to the National Anti-mafia and Counter-terrorism Directorate. At present, according to what was communicated by the Milan Prosecutor's Office, there are no magistrates affected in the Milan district, nor, apparently, in other judicial districts.
Source: ANSA Cronaca