Cybersecurity

Welcome to the age of information security, where identities are stored in the Cloud, banking is done through apps and data is almost as valuable as gold. This is the era of booming digital businesses. The sky (or the Cloud if you like) is the limit. Unfortunately with digital chances come digital challenges. Time is ticking for businesses to protect themselves against cyber threats. Cyber security has become a basic need.

Cyber-attacks or hacking can endanger business continuity with financial hardships and loss of image and goodwill as a consequence. In addition, new data protection legislation like the GDPR also calls for an integral ICT security approach to continuously map, improve and monitor all aspects of an organisation’s ICT.

Cyberattacks

According to the 2024 ICT Security Report in Italy, compiled by Clusit, the Italian Association for Cybersecurity, the trend of cyberattacks globally (including Italy) continues to grow, especially in terms of severity and resulting damages. Here are some key statistics:

+12%

Global increase in cyberattacks from 2022 to 2023 (with a 65% increase in Italy)

+60%

Increase in the number of attacks detected from public sources over the last 5 years (from 1,667 to 2,779)

+13%

Global increase in incidents caused by cybercrime activities in 2023 compared to 2022 (Italy included)

81%

Over 81% of attacks are classified as “critical” or “severe”

Types of Techniques

In 2023, Malware remained the most favored technique used by cybercriminals, employed in 36% of cases. This was followed by the exploitation of vulnerabilities (18%), whether known or unknown (such as dangerous zero-day vulnerabilities). Unknown techniques, for which the specific details of the incident are not publicly available, represented a fifth of the sample.

Sectors Impacted

Compared to 2022, 2023 saw an increase in the severity of impacts in the following sectors:

Healthcare (from just over 20% in 2022 to 40% in 2023)
Financial/Insurance (from about 40% to 50%)
ICT (from 30% to 40%)
Professional/Scientific/Technical (from 20% to well over 40%)

Critical impacts on multiple targets and Education remained stable at around 30%, while the severity of consequences in the Government/Military/Law Enforcement sectors and, to a lesser extent, Manufacturing and Wholesale/Retail, showed a slight decrease year on year, though still very high.

The News/Multimedia category is no longer in the top ten victims in 2023, being replaced by Transportation/Storage, whose attacks are classified as critical in almost a fifth of the cases.

Source: Clusit Report 2024

Cyber Threats: What are we exposed to every day?

Cyberspace is an interesting playground for cybercriminals. Every year, more and more illegal activities take place online, with the risk of severely compromising IT processes even with simple tools bought for just a few dollars. So, what are the biggest threats we face, and how can you prevent cyberattacks from compromising your company's operations?

Discover more

NIS 2 Directive, the complete guide

The NIS 2 Directive represents the new European regulatory framework to strengthen Cybersecurity in critical infrastructures. It introduces expanded obligations for essential and critical sectors, with specific requirements for Italian companies regarding risk management, operational continuity, and supply chain security. In addition to compliance obligations, significant sanctions are foreseen for non-compliant entities, along with implementation measures to ensure alignment with EU standards, promoting a safer and more resilient digital environment.

Discover more on the NIS2 Directive