1.4 million cards on sale on the web's clandestine shelves

The data outlined by Luca Corti and Lorenzo Giudici, respectively Country Manager and Director Cyber Security business Development of Mastercard, during Cybersecurity Day are impressive and show a vertical take-off in the phenomenon of hacking in its various forms and modulations. The most recent example comes to us from the news and is also quite striking: the attack launched against Sistemi Informativi, the IBM company that provides IT solutions to large companies and especially the public administration.

it should be stressed," comments Roberto De Vita, criminal lawyer and Cyber Crime expert, "that violating the digital integrity of IBM, the supporting structure for complex systems of large companies and the Public Administration, is equivalent in severity and dexterity to violating the vault of the Bank of Italia or that of Fort Knox. And it is precisely the Public Administration that has a record, if not in terms of vulnerability, then certainly in terms of attractiveness, if it is true that attacks on the PA in 2025 increased by 100% compared to 2024. But the phenomenon is growing all round and in all spheres: from the dark web marketing of payment cards, to the increasingly dense episodes of ramsomware, both direct and indirect (RaaS) for which it is apparently complicated to put a remedy.

Also because they are often carried out on the side (i.e. by targeting external customers and suppliers). As for payment instruments, Mastercard, which in December 2024 acquired Recorded Futures, a company specialised in thread intelligence, for USD 2.8 billion, reveals that on a global scale there are at least 142 million cards (of which 1.4 million in Italia alone) on the clandestine web lines. Of these, 82% are accompanied by precise contact information of the holders. This means that those who appropriate those cards can do whatever they want with them without the knowledge of the real holders.

Thus, the world of piracy in its many facets is experiencing a boom that appears to be uncontainable, with the multiplier effects brought about by artificial intelligence and its potential and computing power increasing the offensive capabilities of pirates by leaps and bounds.

Nicola Vecchio managing principal of Capco (Capital Markets Company Italy, a multinational technology and strategy consultancy) observes that the only effective way to counter Artificial Intelligence is Ai itself "It is a priority to implement Ai-based defences. Human analysts, however competent, can no longer keep up with the volume and speed of automated attacks.