The Italian government is set to create a national agency to fight against cyber attacks, according to a draft decree. The draft foresees creating a unified cloud infrastructure to bolster the country’s cybersecurity for public administration data storage.
Following the high-profile and wide-reaching attacks on critical infrastructure and state agencies in the US in the recent months, Italy and several other European nations are stepping up their efforts to address cyber risks.
The threats that come with the growing number of interconnected networks and devices are seen as a threat to their competitiveness and security, as Reuters reports.
Italian Prime Minister has signed a decree that consolidates various aspects of digital security under his authority. Currently, these security affairs are dispersed among several ministers and state bodies.
The Italian government’s 2,500-page Recovery Plan unveiled in April envisages the use of cloud computing to improve security.
The dominance of US tech companies, primarily Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, in the data storage industry has raised concerns about the possibility of US government’s surveillance after the adoption of the U.S. CLOUD Act of 2018.
The Italian government plans to establish a public-private partnership to establish a new cloud infrastructure.
According to the draft law, the general director and his deputy will be appointed for four years, with their mandate renewed once. The agency, which will initially be housed in six departments, will start with 300 employees and eventually will grow to have around 800 employees by 2027.
The Italian cabinet is expected to approve a cybersecurity decree this week, a political source said. The plan, which was unveiled, aims to create a cloud “digital infrastructure” that will support tech companies in Italy. The plan, sent to the European Commission in April, sets out investments to be funded by Brussels – a total of around 900 million euros ($1.10 billion) for the project. Innovation Minister Vittorio Colao said last month the project would seek to involve overseas tech companies.
