Spotlight: Cybersecurity needs further public-private collaboration: Italian experts

Connectivity has become such a strategic national asset that cybersecurity is fundamental for each country in the world, and needs consistent investment and collaboration between the public and private sectors, Italian experts said.

Cybersecurity means the security of internet and of all the infrastructures that increasingly rely on the web, such as the airport and public transport networks or the energy and water networks, Bruno Crispo, an information engineering and computer science professor at the University of Trento, and director of a joint cybersecurity center of the University of Trento and of Italy's National Research Council (CNR), said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

What would happen if global connectivity suddenly collapsed? The advantage of internet, Crispo told Xinhua, is that it could be still working in single countries even with the incredible hypothesis that global connection is stopped.

"But what is certain is that internet has become the backbone of each country, a national strategic asset," he stressed.

According to Crispo, there are two types of cybersecurity. On one hand, countries have to raise their internet security to prevent potential attacks which may not only come from criminal organizations, but also from the defense systems of other countries. On the other hand, there is the fight against cybercrime that both involves national police corps and international cooperation.

Italy counts many experts, and in 2007 has reorganized its intelligence services adding cybersecurity teams, Crispo said. However Italy lacks investments compared to other countries such as the United States, Britain or France, which have strongly invested in this field, he added.

But there is full awareness of the importance of cybersecurity in Italy, and many initiatives have been carried out both at the national and the international level.

Speaking of cybercrime, crispo said Italy can rely on its historical ability in the fight against the organized crime. But in order to be protected against all possible form of cyberattacks, he said interaction between private and public investments is fundamental, as informatics is in continuous evolution and "no single companies or agencies can address the issue alone."

Another important initiative in Italy has been the creation of a Cyber Security National Laboratory which involves all universities which are doing research in this field.

"Collaboration with top researchers in the world is key," Crispo said, adding that he would like to establish links, collaborations and exchanges with Chinese universities.

The Cyber Security National Laboratory and the Sapienza University Research Center for Cyber Intelligence and Information Security (CIS) have introduced the National Cyber Security Framework, an initiative that, Roberto Baldoni, the laboratory director and head of the project, said is very avant-garde in the world.

"The framework, released freely last February, is a reference point for companies in all sectors which can use it as an instrument of self-evaluation to understand their level of cybersecurity," he told Xinhua in a recent interview.

The framework was the result of a public and private partnership.

He said that Italy, in line with other European countries, has implemented a national strategy for cybersecurity since 2013 involving the country's intelligence, key ministries, industries and universities.

Terrorism is another issue closely linked to cybersecurity, Baldoni said.

In his view, three things must be taken into consideration in order to evaluate the cybersecurity level of a country: government attention, industry expertise, and research.

"I think Italy is well positioned as regards research and the industry that produces technologies used for cybersecurity purpose," Baldoni said. For example, Italy is very strong in the exploring of activities in the web, and has good virtual firing ranges for training against cyber attacks, presently only addressed to national security but also extensible to private companies in the future.

As the internet revolution is never stopping, several challenges lie ahead, Baldoni said, from smart cities to industry 4.0.

"It means that in 15-20 years or even earlier, economy and informatics will be an only thing, and the protection of national cyberspace will become the protection of the economic prosperity of our country, as well as our everyday life," he said. Endit