The political elections of last September 25 gave partly sensational results.
Among the most striking results there is undoubtedly the flop of Impegno Civico, the party founded by Luigi Di Maio. Which, while aiming to exceed the 3% threshold, only stood at 0.6%.
Now. It is striking how the period immediately following the elections brought about radical consequences and changes of attitude. Think for example – in the election campaign – of the reckless use of the app of the moment, TikTok, by the major political leaders. On which he is often ironized, due to a palpable lack of confidence with the instrument.
Various analyzes have shown how, immediately after 25 September, the Chinese social network was practically abandoned by the vast majority of the leading exponents of the parties.
Ma the last elections, we said, mark the very rapid completion, we do not know if definitive, of the political parable of the thirty-six year old Luigi Di Maio. Who, a minister at the age of 32, is now out of Parliament. And his Civic Commitment, born in August, no longer exists.
Di Maio’s site hacked
There is also a curious fact to certify the current marginality in which the former head of the 5 Star Movement is confined. Luigi Di Maio’s website has been hacked, and reports to an online casino.
Or rather, he reported. Because, since the news was made public, someone has evidently intervened. And, at least while we are drafting the article (on the morning of Monday 17 October), by clicking on the website www.luigidimaio.it the caption “Website under maintenance” appears.
Not a very recent action
There is a further fact that testifies to the lost political centrality of the former leader of the M5S.
One of the first to notice the hacking was Matteo Floraexpert in cybersecurity and president of the non-profit association PermessoNegato, mentioned by us in several articles.
Flora, with a language perhaps not very refined, wrote in a tweet of October 15: “To judge the computer skills of the current political class: the @luigidimaio website has broken through. God knows since when. And nobody noticed it… So much so that the text entered is indexed on Google, as the attacker wanted ”.
The hacked site and the disappearance of Di Maio from the Internet
Di Maio’s hacked site highlights at least two distinct issues.
The first, which we have already mentioned, is the speed with which politics can raise and, with the changing of contingencies (as well as, of course, depending on the ability to play the assigned role with authority), throw into oblivion.
To the point that, as Flora wrote, no one knows how long the Di Maio site had suffered a hacker attack.
In the case of the former foreign minister, sarcastic memes were unleashed even before the elections on the web. Which relied on the somewhat extemporaneous way in which Luigi Di Maio had an irresistible and lightning-fast ascent, not always demonstrating an impeccable preparation (some of his gaffes in various areas of knowledge are rather famous).
Certainly the sudden disappearance of Di Maio from all social networks, from TikTok to Facebook (where Di Maio had 2.4 million followers), caused a sensation. But letting your personal site “turn” into a casino seemed like a real excess of carelessness.
Politicians and computer literacy
However, in his tweet Matteo Flora – as an expert in cybersecurity – also underlines the vulnerability of sites which, representing leading politicians, should enjoy a very different solidity.
What Flora refers to in the tweet is that, for several hours, by typing “Luigi Di Maio” on Google, a string would actually appear that reported to an online casino. The words were the following: “Gratowin casino Italia. If you are looking for the best online casino in Italy, good luck with you Our online casino is one of the largest casinos with a … “
The carelessness of cyber security is widespread in the political class. For example, recently, passing to another former minister, a video link from La7, in which Maurizio Gasparri speaks from behind a tablet, on the back of which a password written on a piece of scotch tape is clearly visible.
The problem of IT security in Italy
In the best of worlds, politicians should be an example. Of moral rectitude, of course, but also of civicism.
Italy is the country in Europe most affected by ransomware, with 58% of the companies involved. And we are amazed that the most used password in 2022 is still 123456.
But if prominent politicians leave their personal website unattended, and others save their credentials with prehistoric cyber methods, it means that the road to awareness of how important cyber security is is still long.