Valuing Equalize: The Company at the Center of the Data Theft Investigation

Scandal of Dossier Leaks in Italy

The terms Equalize, Enrico Pazzali, and Beyond have become synonymous with a major scandal that has rocked Italy.
This situation involves a sophisticated web of hackers and IT consultants who gained unauthorized access to sensitive government databases, spying on political figures, businesses, and executives.

The investigation initiated by the Milan Prosecutor’s Office revealed that a group of IT specialists penetrated the Internal Ministry’s Investigation System (SDI), the most sensitive database used by Italian law enforcement.

Investigations and Key Figures

The inquiry led by Milan’s Anti-Mafia District Directorate has placed Equalize, an investigations and risk analysis firm, in the spotlight.
This company is headed by Enrico Pazzali, President of the Milan Fair Foundation, who has now suspended himself amid the allegations.
Also implicated are former police chief Carmine Gallo and prominent figures from Italy’s financial sector.

About fifty individuals are currently being investigated for illegal dossier activities, including hacker Samuele Calamucci, who developed a platform enabling direct downloads from the police’s SDI archive, fueling a black market for sensitive information.

Equalize’s Financial Profile

The inquiry is examining Equalize’s financial records to determine the revenues generated by these illegal activities.
In 2023, Equalize reported revenues of nearly €1.9 million, a significant increase from €1.7 million the previous year, with profits rising from €639,000 to over €648,000.

This upward trend in revenue had already been evident in earlier years, with a remarkable 66% increase in 2022 alone.
The data reveals that other income sources surged by 129% in 2023.

Beyond: The Data Aggregation Platform

Central to the investigation is the Beyond platform, which allegedly aggregated sensitive data from various sources, including government databases.
Beyond purportedly executed over 52,000 unauthorized accesses to the SDI, stealing around 800,000 files.

The investigative authorities have characterized Beyond as capable of both evaluating and assembling information sourced from various entities, creating a parallel database that mixed lawful and illicit data.

The revelations from this case represent a Pandora’s box, according to Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, who emphasized the gravity of the situation in a recent social media post.
The escalations from this investigation highlight a broader issue of abuse of governmental powers.