There is described a method of tracking an article (30) and protecting it against tampering and counterfeiting, the method comprising the steps of providing an article; providing a film (1c) for wrapping or labelling the article; marking the film with a code (5c); defining an area of interest (35) on the article or the film; wrapping or labelling the article with the film so that the code at least partially overlays the area of interest to define a tracking zone in the region of the at least partial overlay; imaging the tracking zone of the wrapped or labelled article; and storing the imaged date for identifying the article. There is also described, use of a frequency-tripled neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (nd:YAG) laser in marking a code (5c) on a film (1c), the code comprising an at least partly random pattern of perforations (21, 23, 25).