National strategic framework for cyberspace security
the potential harm is incalculable. Given the growing degree of sophistication of cyber attacks
and the ever-increasing dependency of our infrastructures on ICT networks, our very national
stability and security are at risk. It is therefore essential to ensure the finest possible protection of
our critical ICT assets from attacks that can potentially have devastating effects, as it would be the
case in the event of cyber attacks impeding or subverting the correct functioning of the national
transport system, or of energy grids, or even of our military Command and Control centers. It is
therefore necessary to develop and uphold an innovative defence posture, one that is able to engage
the private sector and leverage its skills in the protection of the critical ICT that the latter owns and
operates, and that factors the cyber dimension of future conflicts in its strategic doctrine and in the
capability planning process.
Networks interdependence, the intrinsic asymmetry of the cyber threat, and the pervasiveness
of cyberspace in all aspects of everyday life are all features that call for a holistic approach and
the synergic efforts of all involved stakeholders if we are to ensure an adequate level of security
in cyberspace. The ultimate objectives must be to strengthen our collective ability to preempt an
attack, to detect it while it happens, to react to it, to mitigate its effects, to attribute its origin, and
to rapidly restore the original functionality, while at the same time retaining the lessons learned
from the case.
At the international level, Italy is fully engaged in multilateral institutions, first of all within
the EU and NATO, as well as with all our bilateral partners, to promote the endorsement and
respect of a set of rules of behavior in the digital arena that is consistent with our values, and to
facilitate the emergence of a shared approach to cyberspace governance, so that the International
Community as a whole can effectively cope with the challenges laying ahead. At the domestic level,
it is of outmost importance the promotion of a well-coordinated and multi-dimensional approach
in order to provide for the convergence of all Public Administrations efforts toward the achievement
of objectives that are mutually reinforcing with those of the private sector and the academia.
In the current financial and economic tightening, we cannot allow for any duplication of
efforts and we must therefore seek any possible synergy, keeping in mind that the budget allocation
that will be necessary constitute not only a net saving if compared with the possible damage cyber
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