The one at “piece”the device used illegally by several users to enjoy pirated content at advantageous prices, is becoming an increasingly heated battle for the authorities. The newspaper The Republic in fact he reported that The Financial Police has developed a strategy aimed at catching those who illegally access content such as Serie A matches, fiction, films and television shows at a negligible price. In this case, the “yellow flames” created the idea bait sites indistinguishable from real illegal portalswith the aim of collect personal data such as first name, last name and credit card information, which unsuspecting users will provide directly to investigators. For over a year, this tactic led to the identification of hundreds of users in Italyforcing many to deal with the legal consequences of their actions. At the same time, the authorities are examining the activities of giants such as Cloudflareaccused of providing tools that facilitate illegal activities. The legal battle has already produced significant effects, with requests to identify users who have used systems such as VPN And DNSto bypass the controls.
The “good phishing” of the Financial Police
The “pezzotto” is not simply a device: it represents an organized system that uses advanced technologies to allow users to access paid content illegally. This is why the Guardia di Finanza was forced to implement such a well-organised strategy to collect evidence of the crimes perpetrated by individual users, such as the personal data used for payment, which in all respects represents the basis from which the investigations start. These sites, which resemble pirated ones in every way, are part of a strategy that in some ways we could define as a sort of “good phishing”. Just as cyber criminals use websites that resemble online shops and other reliable web portals to steal the data of unfortunate users, in the same way law enforcement agencies are using ad hoc sites to collect data from users of pirated contentclearly for investigative purposes.
The results obtained with the strategy described above? Judging by what the newspaper reports The Republicthe results are very good:
In the hands of the investigators, there are hundreds of names of Italians who attempted to enjoy Serie A or the best TV series without subscribing to Dazn, Sky, Infinity. Therefore illegally.
The initiative found particular appreciation from DAZN and of Serie A Leaguewhich they respect annual losses of over 300 million euros due to piracy. To stem the phenomenon, we are aiming for a more severe line: monthly fines for at least 10,000 people, which would serve not only to punish but also to dissuade others from using online piracy.
Cloudflare in the eye of the storm
At the same time the authorities’ attention has also shifted to technology service providers which, although operating legally, can in some way facilitate pirate activities. Cloudflare is a case in point: the company, founded in 2009 in San Francisco, offers tools such as VPN And DNS which guarantee online anonymity and which are used promptly Also to access illegal content. According to a recent sentence of the Civil Court of Milanthe company will have to stop selling services to parties involved in piracy and reveal the real IP addresses of users who have misused the services to access illegal content, so that they can be identified and sanctioned.
