(Finance) – Increase the understanding and knowledge that companies have regarding potential cyber threats and their possible cascading effects on the entire economy. With this objective, the third of the meetings took place today in Naples, after those in Catania and Bari, which will be held in the main Italian cities, organized by TIM Enterprise – the Group’s business unit dedicated to businesses, public administration and large customers – together with the local representatives of Confindustria. A training session on IT security dedicated to SMEs in the productive fabric of the Campania region and the PA which placed the focus on the new European Cybersecurity Directive (NIS 2), which even small and medium-sized Italian businesses will have to adapt to within next year.
The growing digitalisation of businesses and public administration exposes the entire supply chain to risks, which start precisely from attacks on the least prepared in terms of IT security. According to i data collected by the TIM Study Center61% of SMEs consider themselves the target of cyber attacks, but only 32% consider themselves ready to manage them. More generally, in 2023 the targets of cyber attacks grew by 187%. In particular, based on TIM’s cybersecurity systems, the high-intensity Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks – that is, those in which criminals overload websites, servers or network resources with enormous malicious traffic – represent around 30% of total attacks, equal to double the previous year. Italy is also the third country in Europe (and sixth in the world) for the number of DDoS attacks, and the first EU country for ransomware attacks characterized by ransom demands.
In this scenario, the indications of the new NIS 2 directive to increase the general level of cybersecurity in Europe they may also be applied to small and medium-sized enterprises if they are suppliers of companies operating in specific sectors defined as critical such as manufacturing, food, waste management, as well as energy, transport, water and healthcare, as well as banking, finance and services digital. Measures range from risk analysis to incident management, from business continuity to supply chain and IT system security. Further attention is required in relation to cyber strategies, employee training, encryption and two-factor authentication tools. Failure to comply with NIS 2 will result in significant penalties.
The event was attended by, among others, Gabriele Fasano, Vice President for Digital Transition, ITS, Bureaucratic Simplification, Artificial Intelligence of the Naples Industrial Union; Sabina Strazzullo, Head of National Institutional Affairs & Trade Associations at TIM; Maurizio Manfellotto, President Campania DIH, Rete Confindustria Scarl; Edoardo Imperiale, CEO Campania DIH Rete Confindustria; Massimo Bisogno, Director of the Special Office for growth and digital transition of the Campania Region; Claudio Ciccotelli, Head of the Cyber National Security Perimeter Division (PSNC) and national disciplines of the National Cyber Security Agency (ACN); Eliana Pezzuto, Deputy Head of the NIS (Network and Information Security) Division and union disciplines of the National Cybersecurity Agency (ACN); Michele Vecchione, Head of Security Offering at TIM Enterprise; Patrizio Sica, Head of Cyber Engineering at Telsy, TIM’s Cyber and Crypto competence center. At the conclusion of the work, Michele D’Ambrosio, Digital Adviser – Digital Policies and Supply Chains, Life Science and Research of Confindustria and Antonio Palumbo, General Councilor of the ICT section of Unione Industriale Napoli spoke. Numerous testimonies from important local companies: Giuseppe Mocerino, President of Netgroup; Chiara Gatti, Head of Cyber Risk, UnipolSai Assicurazioni; Pasquale De Simone, ICT and information security manager, Publiservizi; Immacolata Lamberti, Manager Security & Control System, Hitachi Rail.
The meetings in Catania, Bari and Naples will be followed in the coming weeks by the appointments in Rome and Modena.