The document discusses the CINI Cybersecurity National Laboratory in Italy. It is one of the National Labs of the Italian Committee for Cybersecurity Research, which is a consortium of 47 Italian universities conducting cybersecurity research. The lab has 53 nodes across universities in Italy, with over 500 researchers. It aims to foster the Italian cybersecurity ecosystem through activities like community building, developing frameworks, and organizing the annual ITASEC conference. It also helps coordinate the national cybersecurity research strategy.

1. Paolo Prinetto
President of CINI
Paolo.Prinetto@polito.it
Mob. +39 335 227529
1 www.consorzio-cini.it
Marco Angelini
CINI Cybersecurity National
Laboratory
angelini@diag.uniroma1.it
Mob. +39 349 7152957
Initiatives and answers to
Cybersecurity challenges
Initiatives and answers to
Cybersecurity challenges

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What’s it
 One of the National Labs of
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 A consortium of 47
Italian Universities that
 do research in CS/CE
 deliver BS, MS, PhD degrees
 are public funded
 Involves 1,300+
professors of CS or CE

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Organization
 Organized as a
distributed network of
53 Nodes
 Include 510+ researchers
 Span the whole country
 Are located in major
Italian Universities &
research Institutions
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The Lab The Nodes

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The Italian Cybersecurity Research
Ecosystem
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Italian Committee for
Cybersecurity Research

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The Italian Cybersecurity Research
Ecosystem
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Italian Committee for
Cybersecurity Research

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The Italian Cybersecurity Research
Ecosystem
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Italian Inter‐University Consortium for
Informatics (47 member Univ.)
Italian Inter‐University Consortium for
Telecommunications (37 member Univ.)
Italian National Research Council
(7 Depts, 102 Institutes)

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Italian Committee for
Cybersecurity Research
 Contributing to
fostering the Italian
national network of
interconnected
competence centers,
including:
 The National R&D Center in
Cybersecurity (DPCM Gentiloni)
 Regional Centers in Cybersecurity
(Regionally Funded)
 Competence Centers (Funded by
the Industry 4.0 National Plan)
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One of its ultimate goals

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Italian Committee for
Cybersecurity Research
 Contributing to
fostering the Italian
national network of
interconnected
competence centers,
including:
 National Center in Cybersecurity
(hopefully soon)
 Regional Centers in Cybersecurity
(Regionally Funded)
 Competence Centers (Funded by
the Industry 4.0 National Plan)
 Network of specialized hybrid
academic Cyber Ranges
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One of its ultimate goals

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Italian Committee for
Cybersecurity Research
 Community building
 Talent scouting
 Frameworks
 White Books
 Education & Awareness
 CyberRange.IT
 Strategic Projects
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Main activities

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Italian Committee for
Cybersecurity Research
 Community building
 Talent scouting
 Frameworks
 White Books
 Education & Awareness
 CyberRange.IT
 Strategic Projects
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Main activities  ITASEC National conference ‐
960+ attendees

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Italian Committee for
Cybersecurity Research
 Community building
 Frameworks
 White Books
 CyberRange.IT
 Strategic Projects
 Talent scouting
 Education & Awareness
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Main activities

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Italian Committee for
Cybersecurity Research
 Community building
 Frameworks
 White Books
 CyberRange.IT
 Strategic Projects
 Talent scouting
 Education & Awareness
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Main activities  National cybersecurity
framework
 In cooperation with NIST (USA)
 Customizations for:
 SMEs
 Energy domain
 Hospitals
 GDPR
 …

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Italian Committee for
Cybersecurity Research
 Community building
 Frameworks
 White Books
 CyberRange.IT
 Strategic Projects
 Talent scouting
 Education & Awareness
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Main activities

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Italian Committee for
Cybersecurity Research
 Community building
 Frameworks
 White Books
 CyberRange.IT
 Strategic Projects
 Talent scouting
 Education & Awareness
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Main activities

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Italian Committee for
Cybersecurity Research
 Community building
 Frameworks
 White Books
 CyberRange.IT
 Strategic Projects
 Talent scouting
 Education & Awareness
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Main activities

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White book 2018
 120+ researchers from 40+
research institutions and
universities, representing
the best of Italian research
in the field of cybersecurity
 Projects and Actions to
better defend our country
from cyber attacks
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Who What

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Italian Committee for
Cybersecurity Research
 Community building
 Frameworks
 White Books
 CyberRange.IT
 Strategic Projects
 Talent scouting
 Education & Awareness
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Main activities

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Italian Committee for
Cybersecurity Research
 Community building
 Frameworks
 White Books
 CyberRange.IT
 Strategic Projects
 Talent scouting
 Education & Awareness
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Main activities  Network of specialized
academic Cyber Ranges:
 Torino: IoT, Intelligent Systems,
Industrial Control Systems
 Genova: Smart Grids, Mobile
applications
 Firenze: Public Administration
 Roma Sapienza: E‐health, Drones
 …

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Italian Committee for
Cybersecurity Research
 Community building
 Frameworks
 White Books
 CyberRange.IT
 Strategic Projects
 Talent scouting
 Education & Awareness
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Main activities

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Italian Committee for
Cybersecurity Research
 Community building
 Frameworks
 White Books
 CyberRange.IT
 Strategic Projects
 Talent scouting
 Education & Awareness
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Main activities  Protection and Resilience of
 Domestic Supply chains
 Key Italian Ministries
 Protection from cyber, social,
and physical attacks
 Joint participation to the
SPARTA Project ‐ SU‐ICT‐03‐
2018

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Italian Committee for
Cybersecurity Research
 Community building
 Frameworks
 White Books
 CyberRange.IT
 Strategic Projects
 Talent scouting
 Education & Awareness
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Main activities

24. https://cyberchallenge.it/

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 A flagship project of
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What is it Supported by

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 A flagship project of  Nucleo Sicurezza
Cibernetica
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What is it Supported by

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 A flagship project of  Nucleo Sicurezza
Cibernetica
 DIS
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What is it Supported by

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 A flagship project of  Nucleo Sicurezza
Cibernetica
 DIS
 Ministero della Difesa
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What is it Supported by

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Goals == Talents
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Goals
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 Discover and enhance the cyber talent hidden in
young people (aged 16‐23) studying in Italy
 Reduce the workforce gap by redirecting part of the
potential workforce towards cybersecurity
 Set‐up the National Cyber‐defender Italian Team to
attend annual international competitions, such as
the European Cybersecurity Challenge (ECSC)

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Goals
31
 Discover and enhance the cyber talent hidden in
young people (aged 16‐23) studying in Italy
 Reduce the workforce gap by redirecting part of the
potential workforce towards cybersecurity
 Set‐up the National Cyber‐defender Italian Team to
attend annual international competitions, such as
the European Cybersecurity Challenge (ECSC)

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Goals
32
 Discover and enhance the cyber talent hidden in
young people (aged 16‐23) studying in Italy
 Reduce the workforce gap by redirecting part of the
potential workforce towards cybersecurity
 Set‐up TeamItaly: the National Cyber‐defender
Italian Team to attend annual international
competitions, such as the European Cybersecurity
Challenge (ECSC)

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… as every “serious” national team it has:
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… as every “serious” national team it has:
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A logo Una maglia

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A logo A shirt
… as every “serious” national team it has:

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 Mario POLINO,
Politecnico di Milano
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A coach Una maglia
… as every “serious” national team it has:

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… “retreat” …
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… received from the Prime Minister…
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… received from the Prime Minister…
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…competes…
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ECSC 2019 – Bucarest, 8‐11 ottobre

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…competes…
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ECSC 2019 – Bucarest, 8‐11 ottobre

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… and earns podium…
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… and earns podium…
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A little bit of history
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Year Locati
ons
Involved students
Booked
EnrolledTotal Gender Origin
M F High Schools Universities
# # # # % # % # %
2017 1 683 603 80 57 8,3 626 91,7 20 2,9
2018 8 1.866 1.698 168 583 31,2 1.283 68,8 160 8,6
2019 18 3.203 2.830 373 1.341 41,9 1.862 58,1 360 11,2

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Steps
 Sharp incoming selection
via 2 levels of tests
 3.200 application
 360 selected
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What In 2019

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Steps
 Sharp incoming selection
via 2 levels of tests
 3.203 applicants
 360 selected
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What In 2019

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Steps
 Sharp incoming selection
via 3 levels of tests
 3.203 applicants
 360 selected
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What In 2019
In 2020 (target)
 4.000+ applicants
 480 selected
 24 Universities, in ALL the
Regions

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Steps
 Sharp incoming selection
via 3 levels of tests
 Intensive training
 3 months
 In 18 Italian Universities
 Multidisciplinary
 Hand‐on experiences
 Companies involved
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What How

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Steps
 Sharp incoming selection
via 3 levels of tests
 Intensive training
 3 months
 In 24 Italian Universities
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What How

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Steps
 Sharp incoming selection
via 3 levels of tests
 Intensive training
 3 months
 In 24 Italian Universities
 Multidisciplinary
 Hand‐on experiences
 Companies involved
50
What How

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Steps
 Sharp incoming selection
via 3 levels of tests
 Intensive training
 Local competitions
 Capture the Flag
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What How

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Steps
 Sharp incoming selection
via 3 levels of tests
 Intensive training
 Local competitions
 Capture the Flag ‐
Jeopardy
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What How

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Steps
 Sharp incoming selection
via 3 levels of tests
 Intensive training
 Local competitions
 National competition
 Capture the Flag –
Attack/Defense
 18 teams of 4 people each
 Fighting each‐other
 Soft skills, too
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What How

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Steps
 Sharp incoming selection
via 3 levels of tests
 Intensive training
 Local competitions
 National competition
 Capture the Flag –
Attack‐Defense
 24 teams of 4 people each
 Fighting each‐other
 Soft skills, too
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What How

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CTF Finals: Rome, June 27, 2018
Classical Art Museum at Sapienza Univ. Rome
55

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CTF Finals: Rome, June 27, 2019
STELMILIT – Chiavari (Ge)
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Chronology of the 2020 edition
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Activity Date
University site signing-up Before 30/11/2019
Sponsor signing-up Before 30/11/2019
Student signing-up 02/12/2019 - 17/01/2020
Pre-Test on-line 22/01/2020 - 24/01/2020
Admission Test 17/02/2020
Teaching period 02/03/2020 - 30/05/2020
Local competitions 08/06/2020
Local Award ceremonies 09/06/2020
National competition 09/07/2020
National Award ceremony 10/07/2020

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What next
 Increase participation:
 # Sites
 High school students
 Gender
 Sponsors
 Exporting the format:
 South Korea
 UAE
 Expo 2020 Dubai
2020 ‫ﺴﺒﻮ‬ ‫إ‬
 …
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Domestic International

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Italian Committee for
Cybersecurity Research
 Community building
 Frameworks
 White Books
 CyberRange.IT
 Strategic Projects
 Talent scouting
 Education & Awareness
59
Main activities

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Italian Committee for
Cybersecurity Research
 Community building
 Frameworks
 White Books
 CyberRange.IT
 Strategic Projects
 Talent scouting
 Education & Awareness
60
Main activities  BS curricula (1 Univ.)
 MS curricula (16 Univ.)
 PhD programs (3 Univ.)
 Continuous education: one
year specialization:
 after BS (10 Univ.)
 after MS degree (3 Univ.)
 Cyber Hygiene

61. cyberreadiness@consorzio‐cini.it
https://www.cybersecnatlab.it/cyberreadiness

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What about the rest ? (human factor)
Remaining 99.9999%
Top 0.0001%

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 Cyber‐awareness is crucial
for small organizations
(human ≡ organiza on) ≡
 Mancanza di consapevolezza in
grado di rendere inutili anche
sistemi di difesa avanzati in
grandi organizzazioni
What about «human factor»
≡

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 Cyber‐awareness is crucial
for small organizations
(human ≡ organiza on) ≡
 Lack of awareness can make
useless even the most
advanced defense systems
in large organizations
What about «human factor»
≡

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Goals
 Support a generic
organization in self‐
assessing of its level of
awareness and readiness
with respect to
cybersecurity, through:
 Dynamic questionnaires
 Definition of cyber‐posture
of the organization
 Derivation of corrective
actions and training
through data analysis
 Methodology based on
National Framework for
Cybersecurity and Data
Protection

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Goals
 Support a generic
organization in self‐
assessing of its level of
awareness and readiness
with respect to
cybersecurity, through:
 Dynamic questionnaires
 Definition of cyber‐posture
of the organization
 Derivation of corrective
actions and training
through data analysis
 Methodology based on
National Framework for
Cybersecurity and Data
Protection
IDENTIFY (ID)
RESPOND (RS)
PROTECT (PR)
DETECT (DE)
RECOVER (RC)

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Dynamic Questionnaire
IDENTIFY
(ID)
PROTECT
(PR)
DETECT
(DE)
FUNCTIONS SUBCATEGORIESCATEGORIES
Dynamic questionnaire
Correct answer: proceed to next (deeper) levelWrong answer: proceed to next subcategory

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Cyber‐posture
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IDENTIFY (ID)
PROTECT (PR)
DETECT (DE)
FUNCTIONS SUBCATEGORIESCATEGORIES
Actual posture (green)
+
Target posture(red)

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Stakeholders & Partners
 Unindustria Lazio
 TorinoWireless
 Centro di Competenza per la
sicurezza e l’ottimizzazione delle
Infrastrutture strategiche
“START 4.0”.
 Anitec‐Assinform: Associazione
Italiana per l’Information and
Communication Technology
 …
Stakeholder Partner

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Quick win
 Provide corrective actions for improvement of cyber‐
posture and minimization of exposure state.

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A (very) early step…
Usually we observe:
 PC under the desk
 Password post‐it
over the desk

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A (very) early step…
Usually we observe:
 PC under the desk
 Password post‐it
over the desk
 PC over the desk
 Password under the
desk

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Lessons learned
 Trust each other
 Understand that together we
can get goals otherwise
unreachable
 We is always better than I
 To better serve our country,
we have to build bridges, not
walls
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Lesson learned

74. www.consorzio-cini.it
Marco Angelini
CINI Cybersecurity National Laboratory
angelini@diag.uniroma1.it
Mob. +39 349 7152957
https://www.cybersecnatlab.it/cyberreadiness
https://www.cybersecnatlab.it
https://cyberchallenge.it/