Author: Andrea Monti

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Facebook and Telegram seizures reveal the problems that plague the online criminal investigations

by Andrea Monti – Originally published in Italian by Infosec.News

An article published on page 30 of IlSole24Ore of 11 November 2020 reports on the seizure-by-access-blocking of Facebook and Telegram by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Naples. According to the newspaper, the Public Prosecutor’s Office ordered a “seizure-by-obscuration” of several domain names and a significant number of IPs.

The Guardia di Finanza (Italian tax police force) notified the magistrate’s decision to the operators and internet service providers. While the latter are executing the magistrate’s order, a further note from the Guardia di Finanza arrives asking them not to follow up the inhibition or in any case unblock sixty-six domain names, among which the first two are Facebook (it-it.facebook.com) and Telegram (t.me). Continue reading “Facebook and Telegram seizures reveal the problems that plague the online criminal investigations”

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Terrorism and the abuse of fundamental rights

Acts of terrorism in France and Austria call for reflection on the political and tactical use of human rights by States as an instrument of anti-terrorist propaganda. Is the exercise of fundamental freedoms put at risk in the name of realpolitik? The analysis of Andrea Monti, adjunct professor of Law and Order and Public Security, University of Chieti-Pescara – Originally published in Italian by Formiche.net

There is no way, at least for now, of knowing whether the murder of the French teacher Samuel Paty, the killing of three people in Nice and the massacre in Vienna are the execution of a global plan, or whether they are individual events, planned and carried out by individuals or criminal cells. We also ignore if the spark that triggered them is – once again – the satire of Charlie Hebdo (a fact certainly connected to the assassination of Samuel Paty, but not to the others). Continue reading “Terrorism and the abuse of fundamental rights”

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Defending Computer Criminals

Andrea Monti – Adjunct Professor of Public Order and Security
University Gabriele d’Annunzio – Chieti-Pescara, IT – amonti@unich.it

Paper presented at the Tokyo CodeBlue Conference 2020

Abstract

This paper is about defending a person accused of computer crime and computer-related crime in Court. It is intended as a primer for those defence counsel who have no experience in the specific field of criminal trials involving computer, digital assets and the Internet. At the same time, it provides insights to computer experts wanting to enter into the digital forensics sector, because it offers a way to understand how a lawyer thinks, and what are his needs when designing a defence strategy.

The focus is on the practical issues, as emerged from the direct trial experience of the author and of other criminal trial lawyers, therefore the legal theory and the ICT technical aspects are not discussed in detail. Both the legal and the IT professional, though, can find in the discussion enough hints to widen their understanding of the matter and improve the effectiveness of their strategies.

The paper is structured in three part: a criminological profile’s taxonomy of the defendants, the analysis of the digital investigation carried on by the prosecution to build the case, and the trial strategies of the defence counsel.

Finally, a note on the cases discussed in this paper: where possible, references to court decisions are available, but in some cases, for confidentiality reasons, the paper analyses the relevant elements without providing further information. Continue reading “Defending Computer Criminals”

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Italian Prime Minister Decree 131/20 on the cyber perimeter increases confusion and does not protect national security

By Andrea Monti – Originally published in Italian by Infosec.News

Italian Prime Minister Decree 131/2020 is one of the acts resulting from the enactment of Law Decree 105/19, later converted into Law 133/09 establishing the national cyber perimeter, a concept also relevant for the application of Legislative Decree 65/18, transposing EU Directive 1148/16 (NIS Directive). While this sentence appears to be illegible and incomprehensible, the choices and content of the Prime Ministerial Decree are even more so because they increase the level of the contradiction of a body of legislation which, by regulating national security, should instead be easy to understand and agile to apply.

However, first things first. Continue reading “Italian Prime Minister Decree 131/20 on the cyber perimeter increases confusion and does not protect national security”

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Why Twitter and Facebook scare politicians in the US (and beyond)

Big Techs are an active part of electoral competitions and are not subject to rules and controls, so much so that they can change their decisions, even diametrically without suffering any consequences. The analysis by Andrea Monti, Professor of Law of Order and Public Security, University of Chieti-Pescara – Originally published in Italian by Formiche.net Continue reading “Why Twitter and Facebook scare politicians in the US (and beyond)”