Exposure to cyber dangers is steadily increasing. The countless amount of data that must be stored and protected are aimed at cybercrime, espionage, Social Engineering and social manipulation.
The most sophisticated cybernetic cultural hegemony has long been in the hands of very powerful state actors at the expense of countries with a larger deficit in terms of digital sovereignty. This pushed the Army Study Center to start the debate on the future and digital security.
The goal is to mitigate the criticalities of the national and military cyber system by creating awareness, implementing skills and competences also through the closest collaboration with companies of the caliber of Cisco, Microsoft, Thales and Leonardo. Also because, if the web knows no boundaries, and belongs to the virtual category, it is certain that the interests to be protected are more than material and belong to the State and the civil community.
An important chapter of the discussion was reserved for recruitment. The ability to face the new challenges deriving from hyperconnection requires cyber security staff to act quickly, collaborate and simultaneously develop research and innovation. For innovation, the reference is to weapons systems, but not only, because the civil and military fields are both of strategic importance for the country.
The operational environment is highly complex, the use of new technologies and the information to be managed require a massive effort as regards the selection and future training of Army cadres. Cyber study members of the CSE believe "Basic engineering studies required for the future figure of the cyber officer and subsequent specialization in cyber security courses aimed at the specific sector of use".
The possibility of activating the Cisco and Microsoft certification system should also be reconsidered, which could represent an excellent tool for the ongoing training of personnel employed in the cyber sector. The figure of the CISO, this the acronym for Chef Information Security Officer, must also be trained according to the criteria currently required by the industries (managerial and communication skills). With regard to training, the need to promote training activities with Modeling & Simulation platforms appears to be primary, for positions of
Cyber Planning and Conduct of Operations in a Joint and / or International context. Currently, the Transmission School is the only organization in the Army capable of training employees on C4I systems of the Armed Force, with access to the Cyber Defense Training Laboratory (LADC) made available by the Cyber Security Department (RSC).
Cyber skills (offensive and defensive) require, as is evident, a strong integration of technical staff in the operational planning process: "in-depth technical knowledge of its systems is in fact the basis of any defensive capacity one wants to put in place: getting to know one's networks, systems and platforms thoroughly and correctly managing security updates or capacitive software developments, are the foundations for interoperability".
