Elections 2022, the cybersecurity alarm goes off. The "vademecum" for senators
The Quaestors of the Senate in view of the vote: "We need more prudence". In the manual the "instructions" for secure passwords and information that can prevent identity theft and scams
12 Aug 2022
L. O.
"Greater prudence" in the use of IT means. Especially in view of the elections on 25 September. This is the invitation addressed by the Quaestors of the Senate Antonio De Poli, Paolo Arrigoni and Laura Bottici who in an email urge the senators to a "conscious approach " of technological tools by warning them of cyber risks and sending them a sort of 'vademecum' on Computer Security and the dangers of the network.
Index of topics
• We need a conscious approach
• What the vademecum contains
• The alarm raised by Copasir
We need a conscious approach
"In our daily activity, the use of IT tools has become increasingly frequent and the digital exchange of information is indispensable – write, as the AdnKronos agency learns, the three Quaestors addressing colleagues – This requires greater prudence in the use of these means, especially in this period preceding the electoral round of 25 September, as moreover underlined by the President of the Senate during the Presidency Council of 2 August last".
Computer security cannot be entrusted exclusively to technical tools but requires a conscious approach on the part of the users themselves, note the Quaestors: "The College of Senators Quaestors has always paid great attention to cybersecurity issues", underline the three Quaestors by sending "a document containing some practical advice for a safe use of IT tools".
What the vademecum contains
The manual explains how to choose secure passwords, on apps and social networks, information on the dangers of the internet to avoid running into malware or scams for identity theft, suspicious emails and text messages.
The 'warning' comes after the recent alarm launched by Copasir, chaired by Senator Adolfo Urso, and seems to collect the proposals put forward by the Committee that in recent times has put forward proposals and lit a beacon on forms of disinformation and foreign interference, also with reference to hybrid and cyber threats. A theme at the center of two letters sent by Copasir to the presidents of the Senate and Chamber, Elisabetta Casellati and Roberto Fico.
The alarm launched by Copasir
In a first letter, the president of Copasir warned the Italian parliament against forms of foreign interference, which become "even more intense and accentuated with the approach of the electoral consultations", and which in Germany have materialized with a violation of the "computer systems of the Bundestag" and "an exfiltration of information from the e-mail of German parliamentarians already in 2015" but "also in more recent times".
On that occasion, Copasir recalled the approach of the electoral consultation in Italy, entrusting the presidents of the two Chambers with "any assessment of any technical and organizational measures aimed at countering the possible occurrence of such circumstances even in the case of the Italian Parliament", recalling that cyber attacks often rely on "insufficient preparation on the technological level, procedural of the attacked subject or on a lack of awareness on the part of users of computer systems".
To the " risks of possible external interference aimed at conditioning the electoral campaign itself", the president of Copasir also referred more recently in a second letter addressed to Casellati and Fico underlining the need that, despite the early dissolution of the Chambers and the start of the electoral campaign, in August the Committee remains "fully operational and ready to take action".