Russian cyber attacks on public administration: meeting with Mantovano. "An employee handbook is needed immediately."
The backstory
A meeting at Palazzo Chigi with the Undersecretary, the director of the Frattasi agency, the 007 agents, and Minister Zangrillo. The government fears a new wave of attacks from Moscow: "Be careful with passwords."
A handbook for all public sector employees, especially managers and department heads, to address the threat of imminent cyber attacks on the websites of ministries and local governments. A manual of small and large precautions to prevent the public administration from being attacked, as has happened in the past, by Russian hybrid attacks. This was discussed yesterday afternoon at Palazzo Chigi during a meeting convened by Undersecretary for Intelligence Alfredo Mantovano. The meeting included the host, Bruno Frattasi, Director of the Cybersecurity Agency, the heads of the Italian National Institute of Security (AISI), and Public Administration Minister Paolo Zangrillo. Of course, simply changing the passwords on office PCs won't be enough to reduce the risk of hacker attacks, but the threat is real and evidently imminent. Especially these days, on the eve of the Conference for the Reconstruction of Ukraine: an event that will bring to Rome heads of state and government who are not exactly enthusiastic about Putin's expansionist ambitions. This is a serious matter. And the scenario was perfectly outlined by DIS director Vittorio Rizzi just yesterday during a conference in Naples: "In this new dimension, or rather multi-dimensional, hostile actors use all the weapons at their disposal. And they do so by exploiting two fundamental mechanisms: non-accountability and the ability to deny the hostile action they have carried out." In recent months, following the statements of the head of state Sergio Mattarella against Putin's Russia, several public administration websites as well as banking institutions were targeted for ten days by pro-Russian hacker attacks by alleged activists from the "NoName057(016)" group. It was an unprecedented attack on Italian digital infrastructures that also called into question the actions of prefect Frattasi, opening the door to possible replacements. Which have not yet occurred, even if the government has been discussing it for some time. However, the news – and the alarm – looms.
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