FOREWORD The advent of the Internet marks our time. Cyberspace has increasingly become the domain through which the citizen’s fundamental liberties of information, expression and association are fulfilled, the transparency of public policies is pursued and the efficiency of public administrations is stimulated, growth and innovation are attained. In this global virtual arena, billions of connections are set everyday across geographical borders, knowledge is shared, and the world as we know it is redesigned at an unprecedented speed. The security and the prosperity of any Country increasingly depend on the protection of the ICT networks that host this ever growing wealth of knowledge and connections, and it is therefore more and more compelling to ensure in cyberspace the respect of the rights and duties already preserved in the civil society, in the economic fabric of the society, and in the International Community. The digital arena is not a space outside of the law, and it is our duty to guarantee that also in this domain the democratic principles and values in which we believe are uphold and the norms preserving individual liberties, equality and freedom are safeguarded. Likewise, it is only in an environment of trust and mutual respect that it will be possible to fully reap the opportunities of growth offered by digital platforms, and to secure the development of an open, safe and reliable cyberspace for the benefit of our financial system, our companies and our consumers. The ever-increasing reliance of modern societies on cyberspace implies that the harm occurring in case of a disruption of the ICT infrastructure or in the event of attacks carried out throughout the ICT networks could be dreadful at the least. Threats can stem from any point of the world wide web, and they often hit the weakest links, such as the most vulnerable individuals and the least protected computer systems and ICT networks. Appalling crimes are carried out through the world wide web, such as the exchange of child pornography, and online thefts and frauds can severely damage individual wealth and valuables, hampering the necessary level of trust within the digital community. Cybercrime is a plague that can cause the bankruptcy of firms and the theft of their intellectual property, crippling the wealth of an entire nation. We assist with growing concern to an increasingly insidious threat that exploits ICT vulnerabilities to stealthily steal the results of our research and development efforts in the field of new technologies and products. For a country like Italy, which places innovation at the cornerstone of its growth and competitiveness, 5