Prof. Giorgio Giacinto

Giorgio Giacinto is Professor of Computer Engineering at the University of Cagliari, Italy, where he serves as the coordinator of the MSc degree in Computer Engineering, Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence. 

He leads the Computer Security unit of the Pattern Recognition and Applications Lab (PRA Lab) research group. His research interests are in the field of  machine learning for cybersecurity, such as malware analysis and detection, web application security, malicious behaviour detection, phishing detection. He is a member of the Executive Board of the Cybersecurity National Lab of the CINI consortium, Italy, and represents the National Lab within the European Cybersecurity Organization (ECSO)

In 2015, he co-founded the spin-off company Pluribus One that is bringing to the market the most valuable products of the activities carried out by the PRA Lab research group. 

Title: The Digital Future. Research and Education challenges in cybersecurity and digital forensics

Abstract:
The increasing “digitalisation” of our era makes our social, economic, and political lives highly dependent on computers. This complex environment is causing different and multiple weaknesses that allow malicious actors to misuse the systems and cause threats at different levels of severity. The defence is a priority for all professionals who need to be aware of the best practices and current technologies for designing secure systems and be prepared to be resilient to attacks. When facing an attack, not only damages have to be limited, but also information needs to be properly collected in order to assess the impact, locate the vulnerabilities that caused the attack, and eventually attribute the attack. In this reality, artificial intelligence plays a pivotal role in early detection and post-mortem data analysis, and its effectiveness is related to its resilience to adversarial attacks aimed at evading detection and misleading the decision process. Considerable efforts in research, education, and public awareness are needed to build a secure environment and promote trust.