“Fighters of land, sea, air!”: Thus began the speech with which Mussolini announced Italy’s entry into the war on June 10, 1940.
A senseless, tragic, devastating decision. But those words described the three forces with which military power was measured in the twentieth century: infantry, navy, aviation. In the 21st century, a fourth must be added: the IT force. Intangible, at first sight of little relevance; yet crucial nowadays. One example above all a few weeks ago: at the dawn of the invasion of Ukraine, the Russians launched a campaign of cyber attacks against Ukrainian banks, military centers, government and communications sites.
The reaction was mixed but far from weak, with new and completely different actors. Decentralized movements such as Anonymous (“hacker” activists to use a word known to most) have carried out the most well-known cyber counter-offensives, for example by blocking Russian government and news sites, and even causing problems for the Belarusian railway system and slowing down Russian military movements.
Less well known, but equally significant, is the contribution of large American technology companies such as Microsoft, which have intervened more quietly to defend Ukraine from cyber attacks. This last fact is on the one hand interesting, but on the other hand it brings with concern to a historical period that we thought was now outdated forever. During the Second World War the countries at war resorted to the support of private companies for the war efforts against the enemy: for example, the USA with Ford and Boeing, Germany with BMW, Italy with Fiat.
How do we defend ourselves in Italy?
A few months ago the National Cybersecurity Agency (Acn) was created. A body established under the Presidency of the Council, with the aim of promoting a serious national cybersecurity strategy and coordinating efforts in this area among the various public institutions, also with the help of the private sector. Commendable initiative. Much less the fact that this was reached in Italy only in 2021, that in 2022 it is not yet operational and that it took a war in Europe to make everyone understand its enormous importance for Italy.
Now it is up to act concretely, and I am unfortunately certain that it will not be easy for the National Cybersecurity Agency. Because? Italy brings with it a cursed nineteenth-century legacy of Croce and Gentilewhich has traditionally led to the denigration of Science and even more of Technology: things “inferior” to the other disciplines of Knowledge.
Result? With rare exceptions (e.g. in mechanics), in Italy we have few advanced technology companies, and none in the IT field. The fact is also clear at the university level. If we filter the self-referential proclamations of our academies, we realize that Italy does not include any technological excellence among its universities. As I wrote in other articles, today the most relevant Italian University in the world is the Politecnico di Milano, ranked 142nd according to the latest QS ranking.
Source QS World University Rankings 2022
In other words, a G7 country like Italy has only its best university as 142nd in the world. In addition to engineering, that is, what should be the driving force of an economy and support national interests such as that of information security.
Secular problems
In short, this is the situation in Italy. No cutting-edge IT companies. No university department of computer science of excellence.
There is a lack of foundations from which to draw from the best. Considering then that the staff of the National Cybersecurity Agency must obviously be Italian and of clear loyalty to the country, I am afraid that it will be really difficult to find in Italy the professionals we need urgently.
If, as probable, it was then thought to attract Italian professionals who emigrated abroad, I fear for the low attractiveness of salaries. A good engineer at Google in Silicon Valley quietly takes $ 300,000 a year in full compensation. But even leaving the United States aside, a good software engineer can aspire to similar figures just a few steps away from us at Google in Zurich. Source Glassdor
And I’m talking about average profiles: for top figures, the salary can obviously rise a lot, towards the million per year. This is the market value of true IT professionals. However, many in Italy still believe that anyone with a computer is, especially if a “cuggino” (a la “Elio e le Storie Tese”) told him that with WordPress or a program to write those with “colored writing “You can do everything for a few euros. Too bad, however, that large software applications require the best professionals in the IT sector, just as building a Formula 1 car requires the best mechanical engineers and non-Lego enthusiasts.
Roberto Baldoni, director general of the National Cybersecurity Agency, knows this very well. And I am pleased that in this interview he points out precisely the serious problem in Italy of both skills and salary. Addressing Italian professionals abroad, more than the economic aspect, he invites them to put “talent at the service of the country, on a vital mission to maintain our economic prosperity and independence“: A very just, noble sentiment of the highest excellence. And I know people who already do it, and they are a vital and little known force of Italy.
Unfortunately, however, reality must also be looked at: these people with strong experience and homeland love are very rare, and it is naive to base the hopes of a strategic body on this that aims to hire 300 employees by 2023 to reach 800 by 2027. It really hurts to say it, but Italy is not a country of Idealists, and who was too often it quickly ends up in oblivion. Ask around who were the Nazario Sauro, the Cesare Battisti, the Bandiera brothers: they are all heroes unfortunately now unknown to most.
Then there is another aspect that should not be underestimated at all: the stability of the National Cybersecurity Agency must absolutely be guaranteed. Italian politics is not solid, and every frequent change of government echoes the “Oh“By Brenno:” woe to the vanquished “,”spoils system“. Whatever you call it, it is essential to have a safe guide who pursues the set strategy without worrying about being replaced or not being supported the following year. This is even more true in an entity that is still embryonic and whose leaders must focus every energy on its actual realization.
Strength in numbers
As an Italian, I really wish the best to the new National Cybersecurity Agency. With this article I also wanted to give my minimum contribution to promote this strategic body and the competition it has just published for 50 permanent positions (deadline March 25th), as well as 11 fixed-term positions (deadline March 15th).
I know how hard it is to deal with ancient requirements of the Public Administration: I see it, for example, in the competition above, with the constraints of a master’s / specialist degree with at least 105/110 (to access IT expert positions that often do not have it ), or in the use of creative and at the same time somewhat oxymoronic solutions such as the salary equation of these figures with those of the Bank of Italy.
Let me be clear. The National Cybersecurity Agency must be supported in every way: he faces an uphill battle, but his success is absolutely fundamental for the defense of the country, now more than ever.
And I really hope it contributes to spreading healthy IT culture in Italy, freeing it from the chains of that classic culture which is often an end in itself. On the other hand, if Julius Caesar were among us today and led this new force, he would no longer open a De Bello Gallico with “All of Gaul is divided into three parts“. As a cryptographer like Caesar himself was, I’m sure his words would be today “Strength in numbers”. “Strength in numbers”, the motto of Bitcoin which perfectly summarizes the importance of digital in every aspect of modern life: cultural, social, professional and, unfortunately, today also military.