The government's new bill on strengthening cyber security includes tighter rules on database access and stiffer penalties for violations, Cabinet Secretary Alfredo Mantovano said on Wednesday.
"Under current legislation, for example, should the suspects in the Perugia investigation be convicted, the penalties would have a dissuasive effect," Mantovano told ANSA after a hearing before the Lower House Constitutional Affairs and Justice committees.
"The bill aims precisely at making the safeguards against such behavior more serious," he added.
Perugia prosecutors are probing 14 people including finance police officer Pasquale Striano in relation to alleged illegal access to the data of numerous public figures including politicians and celebrities while he was in service in the National Anti-mafia Prosecutor's Department.
Striano is believed to have abused the so-called 'SOS' system, which enables officials to rummage through the information stored on databases of individuals if the authorities receive a report of a suspect financial operation by them.
The case has become a political issue, partly because many of the politicians allegedly snooped on are on the political right.
It has also led to calls for the creation of a parliamentary commission on inquiry, although on Tuesday Prime Minister GiorgiaMeloni said the Parliamentary Anti-Mafia Commission should be allowed to complete its investigation first.
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