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Digital Transformation in Italian Local Authorities: Progress Made, but Cybersecurity Lags Behind

In recent years, Italy’s local governments have taken significant steps toward digital transformation. Fuelled by national reforms and EU recovery funds, more and more municipalities are bringing services online. Yet as digital adoption accelerates, a critical vulnerability has emerged: cybersecurity.

A More Digital Italy—Even at the Local Level?

Digital innovation is no longer the exclusive domain of central ministries or major cities. Local governments across Italy are embracing new technologies at an unprecedented pace. The data speaks for itself:

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Greek companies have the weakest cybersecurity

Greek businesses have emerged as the weakest link in the European Union when it comes to cybersecurity, ranking last in terms of protective measures against cyberattacks. Just days after Kaspersky released data showing that Greece tops the list as the most dangerous online environment globally, Eurostat figures paint a grim picture of corporate cyber-readiness, placing Greek companies extremely low in the rankings.

According to the latest Eurostat data, while the majority of companies in the EU have implemented cybersecurity measures, disparities among member-states remain significant. Greek companies stand out negatively, being labeled as the weakest of Europe in terms of implementing cybersecurity protections.

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Cyberattack at Hellenic Open University (HOU): 813GB of personal data leaked

The Hellenic Open University clarifies that this size represents an extremely small percentage, compared to the total volume of data that they maintain, and emphasizes that the investigation continues.

The HOU in Greece, has provided clarifications regarding the cyberattack it suffered last October, noting that the investigation on this incident is still ongoing. The cyberattack, which took place on October 25th, resulted in the HOU’s electronic systems being put out of operation.

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What can cybersecurity learn from true crime?

Even if you’re not a fan of true crime documentaries or podcasts, you’re probably familiar with some of the well-known serial killers from USA in the 1980s. Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and the Golden State Killer to name a few.

Now what does this have to do with cybersecurity and CS-AWARE-NEXT? I promise there is a connection other than justifying my consumption of true crime podcasts during office hours!

Watching true crime documentaries, where the serial killer is caught much too late because they committed their crimes in different states or counties and the police stations didn’t share information across borders. In their defence, at the time, the technology wasn’t developed to do so.

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Cybersecurity & the Domino effect

A cyberattack is rarely caused by one big thing, but more often a combination of many little things. We see it all the time in disaster documentary film, how even the tiniest little detail can start a chain reaction with devastating results. A chain reaction that could have been stopped if even just one of the Dominos in the line were missing.

Take documentary film about plane crashes for example. We know flying is safe, we know how high the security priority is. In the events of a crash, we hear of all the frustratedly many small errors and we are left wondering how so many things have been overlooked.

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Beyond 2025

OTS Company, as a partner of the CS-AWARE-NEXT, represented the project at the international digital technology and innovation exhibition “Beyond”, which took place from 4 to 6 of April 2025 in Athens, Greece.

Beyond fosters the development of innovative technologies and business opportunities, while it aims at creating a hub that promotes collaboration and encourages the exchange of knowledge and ideas. It is a great opportunity for global innovators, researchers, and start-ups to connect. This year, the title of the exhibition was “AI Reality Bites” and focused on artificial intelligence and all the factors that come along as it integrates society. Cybersecurity was also a key theme: there were experts who demonstrated live, discussed in panels and showcased in workshops the importance of it and how a user or an organization can be safer online.

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Cybersecurity in Italian Municipalities: A Growing Emergency

In recent years, the digitalization of Public Administration has increasingly exposed the cybersecurity vulnerabilities of Italian municipalities. Hacker attacks are multiplying, targeting public offices and essential services, while institutions struggle to respond with new regulations and protective measures. However, the problems persist, and municipalities often find themselves unprepared in the face of increasingly sophisticated threats.

Rising Concern Over Cybersecurity in Municipalities

According to data from the National Cybersecurity Agency (ACN), in 2024 about 18% of cyberattacks targeted Public Administration, particularly affecting local authorities and healthcare centers. This alarming trend prompted the government to respond with legislative measures and security strategies.

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Social engineering - the Jedi mind trick of cyberattacks.

“These aren’t the droids you’re looking for”, “These aren’t the droids we’re looking for” - The iconic exchange between Ben (Obi-Wan Kenobi) and the Stormtroopers in Star Wars episode IV - A New Hope. A scene where our heroes are almost caught in a check-point, but are able to convince the enemy Stormtroopers to let them pass.

And while the cybercriminals haven’t graduated from the Jedi Academy, they can use similar techniques to manipulate you when you least expect it.

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Increased ransomware incidents in 2024 – Checkpoint Report

The annual Ransomware report for 2024 from the research team of Checkpoint reveals a deep change in cyber threats, with ransomware incidents facing an increase of 11% in 2024 in comparison to 2023.

In particular, Q4’s attacks represented the 33% of all the attacks, making it the most active semester recorded, with a total of 1.827 incidents.

Key findings of the report are outlined below:

• General increase: the report records in total 5.414 ransomware attacks in 2024, with an increase of 11% when compared to 2023. The most active period was the fourth semester, with 1.827 incidents which represent the 33% of the annual total.

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CriM 2024

The yearly cyber security seminar CriM is upon us once again! We are glad to host three days of expert lectures on this year’s topic: CyberSec in Muumimaa - Finnish Cybersecurity in a changing world.

Alongside with the expert lectures, there is a workshop on TPM 2.0 and a two-afternoon hackathon on AI Security focused on Large Language Models. The 100+ attendants from the industry and University of Oulu will get acquainted with TPM2.0 security, prompt engineering, and the latest LLM security testing tools.

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