FBK and Cassa Centrale Banca together for “Cyber Threat intelligence”

Attacks on digital services, first of all banking and financial services, and more (remember for example the ransomware attack that blocked an oil pipeline in the USA in May, or the various attacks directed at hospitals during the pandemic) are increasing sharply also following the massive use of digitalization of many processes in order to guarantee social distancing.

In today’s world, where the strong growth in the interdependence between services and infrastructures is combined with the absence of borders in the digital world, it is becoming increasingly essential to be informed about the dynamics of attacks and the context in which they occur in order to better organize the defense of each individual organization. To this end, Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) programs aim to identify information useful for preventing and mitigating attacks, collecting it from multiple sources such as social media and dedicated sites also located on the dark web.

In order to consolidate IT security at the Cassa Centrale Group, FBK’s Cybersecurity Center and Cassa Centrale Banca, with the support of a dedicated team at Allitude – the Group’s ICT company and back office, launched the design of a CTI program that allows to contextualize attacks on the Group’s services, in order to organize possible defense strategies quickly and effectively.

“The collaboration with Cassa Centrale – says Silvio Ranise, Director of the Cybersecurity Center at Fondazione Bruno Kessler – is a unique opportunity for the FBK Cybersecurity Center both to validate some research on how to make information on attacks and related mitigations easily accessible, and to define new research problems in order to better understand the security risks that a complex banking organization must face in order to ensure quality services to its customers. ”

The project will see FBK, Cassa Centrale and Allitude engaged until the end of the year, with dedicated teams of specialized professionals from both organizations. At the end of the process, the whole Group will benefit from an efficient monitoring of cyber threats.

“Information security – concludes Simone Maga, Head of Security Department of the Cassa Centrale Group – is an essential element with a strong strategic value for our Group. To govern the digital transition, which will mark the next decade, we need to update ourselves and invest in research and development of new technologies. Collaborating with FBK’s Cybersecurity research center, an institution recognized worldwide, is undoubtedly a reason for prestige and a precious opportunity to foster Open Innovation by consolidating our ties with the Italian Research system.”

The Cassa Centrale Banca Cooperative Banking Group – Italian Cooperative Credit

The Group has 77 banks and 1,500 branches throughout Italy, over 11,000 collaborators and approximately 450,000 Cooperator Members. With 7 billion euros of own funds, a balance sheet assets of 86.8 billion, loans to customers for 46.2 billion and total deposits of 91.6 billion (60.4 of direct deposits and 31.2 of indirect deposits), it ranks among the top ten Italian banking groups. With a CET1 ratio of 21.46% it ranks among the strongest groups in our country.