Portuguese authorities are investigating a security vulnerability that allowed advertisements for illegal streaming services to appear on multiple official government websites.
The Polícia Judiciária (PJ) launched the probe following a formal complaint filed by GEDIPE, a prominent association for the collective management of author and audiovisual producer rights. GEDIPE’s director, António Paulo Santos, confirmed the complaint to authorities and the notification of the security flaw to the government, led by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro.
The vulnerability permitted the illicit advertisements for ‘pirate’ IPTV to be hosted on domains officially assigned to the Portuguese government.
Earlier this week, the Lusa news agency verified that numerous government pages, identifiable by the .gov.pt extension, displayed offers for these illegal television transmissions via the internet. Among the affected sites were those belonging to the Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth (IPDJ).
Specifically, advertisements were found on pages dedicated to the Museum of Sport and the National Plan for Ethics in Sport, as well as the main IPDJ institute website. Even the Office for Planning, Strategy, Evaluation, and International Relations within the Ministry of Finance hosted similar illegal offers, despite having no connection to sports-related content.
A source from the Polícia Judiciária confirmed that investigators are working to identify the individuals responsible for publishing these advertisements.