*Press Release*

“Cybercrime, human rights at stake”

Cyber 4.0 launches warning at Cyber Crime Conference in Rome

 

“The new UN Convention will be decisive for a shared definition of cybercrime based on

on respect for fundamental rights and a vision of the Internet as an open and free space.”

This was stated by Matteo Lucchetti, director of Rome’s national cybersecurity competence center, at an event organized by ICT Security Magazine at the EUR district

Rome, May 11, 2023 – “The fight against cybercrime closely affects individuals and national communities more than we can imagine, far beyond the databases stored in some distant server exposed to cyber risk: at stake is not only the Internet of the future but also respect for human rights and relations of peace and cooperation between states, in a future tomorrow now just around the corner.”

This is the warning that Matteo Lucchetti, director of Cyber 4.0, the highly specialized national competence center for cybersecurity, launched at the opening of the Cyber Crime Conference in Rome, organized by Ict Security Magazine in collaboration with Cyber 4.0, Socint – Italian Intelligence Society and Ccdcoe – Nato cooperative cyber defense center of excellence.

The event brings together leading international experts, researchers, industry players, law enforcement and defense authorities in the capital for a “face-to-face” discussion in a series of talks. The goal is to outline the baseline scenario on the evolution of cybercrime, the actors and resources in the field, and the most effective strategies in cyber defense and intelligence.

The exponential increase in cybercrime cases follows an ever-increasing trend globally, further accelerated in the Italian context by the occurrence of two unprecedented factors that have taken place in recent years: lockdowns for health restrictions, which have accelerated the ongoing digital transition process and greatly increased the attack surface available to cyber criminals, and-since last year-the conflict in Donbass, which has produced a very substantial increase in politically motivated cyber attacks. Clusit estimates a +169 percent increase in cyber attacks in Italy in 2022 compared to 2021, compared to a global average increase of +21 percent. And in 2023 the trend seems to be confirmed, partly and mainly due to attacks from gangs supporting the war of aggression against Ukraine.

This is an unavoidable topical fact for the Cyber Crime Conference: the war between Russia and Ukraine is an important and closely touching example of large-scale cyber war, as reported by Ivan Kalabashkin, deputy directorate head, Security service of Ukraine (“Ukraine in cyberspace, 1 year after”).

In this context, the draft of the new UN Convention on cybercrime is being discussed on the UN tables, which aims to supersede, as of 2024, the Council of Europe’s 2001 Budapest Convention , the main transnational document in force already signed by 68 states including those outside the European forum, but integrating several of its principles. Alexander Seger, head of the Council of Europe’s Cybercrime Division, is the first speaker at the conference (“International cooperation on cybercrime and electronic evidence: new tools, old debates?”). Lucchetti himself addressed the topic:

“To deal with cybercrime, we need international cooperation tools, based on legal treaties, so that the evidence collected can be used in the courts and not just as intelligence information,” the Cyber 4.0 director noted. The United Nations should ensure that the new Convention provides a common legal basis in respect of fundamental human rights, starting with a precise definition of “cybercrime.” The risk is that this term will be used by some states to introduce a restrictive view of freedom of expression, privacy, criminal law discretion, public-private and interstate cooperation. Italy can do much to foster negotiations, where competing are a closed, state-centric view of the Internet as a place of borders (“Splinternet“) and that of the Internet as a free, inclusive, collaborative – Lucchetti concludes –. Alternative visions that are not only cyber but will inevitably reflect peace relations between states and the very freedom of individuals.”

Among other speakers participating in the Cyber Crime Conference are Giulio Galasso, chief of theNational Cybersecurity Agency (NCA ) Operations Service, for a talk on “Cyber resilience: the role of the National Cybersecurity Agency in the cyber operating environment”; Dong Uk Kim, specialized agent ofInterpol ‘s Cybercrime Department (“The global cybercrime landscape and the investigative challenges”).

Also on the program, a round table onjudicial and investigative case histories (“The criminal justice in action in Europe and beyond – a collection of good stories”) which, thanks to the intervention of three prosecutors, will allow to compare good practices implemented in Italy (Francesco Cajani, Deputy Public Prosecutor at the Court of Milan and Italian contact point for Eurojust in relation to cybercrime), in Belgium (Jan Kerkhofs, federal magistrate, federal prosecutor’s office of Belgium) and in Germany (Jana Ringwald, Senior Public Prosecutor, The Attorney General’s Office Frankfurt am Main).

On the agenda, among others, speeches by Riccardo Croce, director in charge of the National Cybercrime Center for Critical Infrastructure Protection (Cnaipic) Postal and Communications Police together with Andrea Carnimeo dir. tec. sup. of the State Police (“Cybersecurity, opportunities and challenges for the near future,” Friday 12); Pier Luca Toselli, Judicial Police Officer, digital evidence specialists (DES), Computer forensics and data analysis (CFDA) at Guardia di Finanza (“Investigations 4.0, searches and retrieval of computer evidence in different contexts”); Major Giovanni Andriani Commander of the 2nd Section of Group III, Nucleo Speciale Tutela Privacy e Fradi Tecnologiche, Guardia di Finanza, for a talk on “Investigation in the dark web” (Friday 12).

The Cyber Crime Conference, 11th edition is being held today and tomorrow, Friday 12, with free admission, at the Auditorium of Technology (Umberto Tupini Street, 65).

Aimed at an industry audience (industry professionals, security and It managers, law enforcement, companies, lawyers, diplomats) the event reserves anexhibition area for proposals from companies engaged in cyber risk management, cyber security and securing organizations.

The proceedings will be conducted in Italian and English, simultaneous interpretation with translation will be available for each guest, and everyone will be given a certificate of attendance at the end of the conference.

The entire program and information can be found on the Cyber Crime Conference website.