Italy plans new cybersecurity measures against illegal gambling
The aim is to protect licensed operators on the Italian gambling market.
Italy.- A new Budget Law includes proposals intended to strengthen measures against illegal gambling in Italy. The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) proposes the creation of a new cybersecurity system that would prevent access to unlicensed gambling sites at public internet locations.
The Italian gambling industry news site AgiproNews reports that the plan will require businesses offering public internet access, including cafés and kiosks, to install software to block connections to unlicensed domains. The software would be developed by the Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM), which regulates gambling in Italy, and the state IT provider SOGEI.
The ADM will draw up regulations to govern the system’s implementation, while the Guardia di Finanza, a militarised law enforcement agency under the Ministry of Economy and Finance, will play a role in enforcement, imposing fines on businesses that fail to install the required software and potential criminal charges in cases where devices are configured to intentionally direct users to illegal betting sites via closed browsing.
The aim is to protect new Italian online gambling licensees, which paid €7m per licence in the recent licensing window. The move follows the Constitutional Court’s quashing of the Balduzzi Decree, which had banned gaming on terminals in public spaces. The court determined that the measure had been overly restrictive and infringed on business rights. However, the ADM insists that closed-circuit devices are prohibited under existing law.
Italy is also looking at scrapping its ban on gambling sponsorship in sports as a potential measure to shore up channelisation while also boosting the finances of sports clubs.
The ADM intends to complete its approvals of Italy’s new online gambling concessions by November 12. It received 52 licence applications from 46 companies.
Meanwhile, long-delayed proposals to reform the regulations for land-based gambling in Italy have been put back further until August 2026 due to the continued complexity of negotiations with regional governments as well as the ADM’s focus on the online gambling licensing process and the recent national lottery tender, which was won by LottoItalia, a consortium including Brightstar, Allwyn, and Novomatic.
