**Press Release**

1637 cyber attacks in 6 months: an innovative AI platform to save Italian SMEs and protect Italy’s manufacturing heartland

Italy +23% cyber attacks in 2024: virtual expert arrives to help businesses

  • Presented today the results of the PACY project (Google, UCBM, PoliMi): a web platform to support Italian Small and Medium Enterprises victims of Cyber attacks, created with the support of Google.org by Cyber 4.0 and University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome
  • 43% of Italian SMEs without a security officer: the project will provide an indispensable tool to simplify the lives of SMEs affected by cyber attacks by providing immediate assistance
  • Campus Bio-Medical University of Rome and Google.: also unveiled the new Cybersecurity Seminars Program, which aims to provide practical and theoretical skills essential for tackling cybersecurity challenges

Rome 29, Jan. 2025 – A web platform to support Italian SMEs that are victims of Cyber attacks, which can be used even by those without strong technical skills. An indispensable tool to improve the cybersecurity posture of SMEs that can provide immediate assistance in the event of a crisis.

From the collaboration between Google.org, University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome and Politecnico di Milano comes the PACY ( Pro- Active Cybersecurity) platform, presented in Rome at the Faculty of Engineering of the University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome during the event “Cybersecurity 5.0” in the presence of Martina Colasante; Government Affairs & Public Policy Manager of Google Italia; Professor Roberto Setola, president of the UCBM Degree Course in Intelligent Systems Engineering; , Matteo Lucchetti director of the Cyber 4.0; by Francesco Carioti, director of the Institutional Relations and External Relations Division National Cybersecurity Agency ACN; Mario Beccia, deputy director of information for NATO cybersecurity; Lorenzo Benigni, Unindustria vice president with security delegation; Ivano Gabrielli, director of the Postal Police and Cybersecurity Service; Luca Faramondi, coordinator of the master’s program in Cybersecurity Management UCBM; Filippo Silvestri, Chief Business Development Officer Cyber 4.0.

The platform aims to lend support to one of the weak points of the Italian production system: almost all of the companies in the beautiful country are in fact Small or medium-sized, but 43 percent of them do not have an information security manager (according to the Grentz 2023 report).

The growing number of attacks, calculated by Clusit (Italian Association for Information Security) at 1,637 in the first half of 2024 alone with an increase of 23 percent over the previous year; increased use of malware (34 percent of attacks) and a significant increase in DDoS attacks (reaching 27 percent in Italy) make it more urgent to provide concrete responses so as not to impoverish the Italian productive and employment fabric.

The platform will ensure immediate assistance: a virtual expert built with Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and trained based on advice gathered from experts in the field, will be available to businesses by providing advice and making existing resources and procedures more accessible online for an initial phase of assistance to businesses affected by a Cyber attack.

Thanks to an intuitive interface using natural language the Small Business, immediately after the cyber incident, will be guided through a path of assistance that can determine the type of incident, guide the user through the preliminary operations necessary to limit the impact of the attack, and finally to facilitate the compilation of reports on the event. Thanks to the platform documents and files will be uploadable directly from the chat to ensure faster and more accurate analysis of the attack. It will be possible to automatically generate reports to be submitted to authorities such as the Postal Police, privacy guarantor, etc.

Alongside the PACY platform, the joint UCBM – Cyber 4.0 CyberSHOT (Cybersecurity laboratory for Systems, Health and Operational Technologies), the result of the collaboration between the University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome and the Cyber 4.0 Competence Center, was inaugurated during the event. The laboratory has a special focus on Operational Technologies, e-health systems and critical infrastructure. The goal of the lab is to make research in the field of cybersecurity available to companies by implementing research projects and roadmaps.

UCBM also presented, with the support of Google.org, the new Cybersecurity Seminars Program,an initiative selected by Virtual Routes as one of the best in Europe in the field of advanced training. This prestigious recognition confirms UCBM’s excellence in cutting-edge training and its commitment to nurturing young talent in the cybersecurity field.

The program, aimed at female students from technical colleges or universities, aims to provide practical and theoretical skills essential for tackling cybersecurity challenges. Thanks to 330,000 euros in funding from Google.org, full scholarships are provided, making this educational opportunity accessible to talented young people interested in pursuing a career in cybersecurity.

The program has three editions and will involve a total of 75 students and 100 SMEs. Students will take a course that offers a combination of theory and practice, with the aim of supporting SMEs involved in the project during a shadowing period.

Statement by Matteo Lucchetti director of the Cyber 4.0 Competence Center

Research applied to cybersecurity of OT technologies plays a crucial role, especially in the Italian healthcare sector, where integration between IT and OT is increasingly relevant. The initiative that today inaugurates the CyberSHOT lab, the result of joint investments between Campus Biomedico University and our Cyber 4.0 Competence Center, aims to identify tools and systems for better protection of critical infrastructures, such as hospitals and connected medical devices, ensuring continuity of services, protection of sensitive data and patient safety.

Thanks to the funds provided by the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy, we want this lab to actively contribute to the development of innovative solutions to counter emerging threats, strengthen the resilience of the health care system, and promote a culture of security that is essential to meet the challenges of the future.”

Statement by Roberto Setola, chair of the UCBM Bachelor of Science in Intelligent Systems Engineering program.

“Today is an important day for the course in Intelligent Systems Engineering at Rome’s Campus Bio-Medical University. We are growing in studies and projects related to cybersecurity so much so that today we can announce the opening of a new laboratory in collaboration with the Ministry for Business and Made in Italy and the Cyber 4.0 competence center, and to be able to share an important path with Google on the issues of training and support for SMEs on cybersecurity. “

Statement by Lorenzo Benigni, Unindustria vice president in charge of cybersecurity:

“We must work to build an evolved security culture: cybersecurity must become an integral part of business culture, as it is a competitiveness asset. This is why we need to support businesses, particularly SMEs, by providing the necessary skills and tools. NIS 2 requires us to raise the bar on cybersecurity for our companies, but the cybersecurity supply chain in Lazio, as we have seen again today, represents excellence, and this will certainly help us meet the challenge.”