Security and hackers, the threats and wars protagonists of "Il Giorno del Bianconiglio"

Leonardo Artico, an expert in cybersecurity, is used to hunting hackers on the web as one would do with sharks in the ocean. Except that to chase the sharks sometimes you have to go very deep, where there is completely no light and the danger can arrive unexpected and lethal. Arctic and his faithful right arm, Roberto Gelmini, are aware of this but will have to put all their skill and courage into play to face the threat of a "shark" used to thrive in the abyss of the web, a shark that is planning a cyber attack capable of bringing a large energy giant to its knees and panicking an entire nation. To help them in their "fishing" will be the journalist Teresa Aprili, who will learn at her own expense how defenseless and unprepared she is in the face of an attack from the dark side of the network.

Full of twists and turns and well-paced, Il Giorno del Bianconiglio (Chiarelettere, 2021, Euro 15, pp. 256. Ebook too) is a cyberthriller inspired by facts and cyber attacks that actually happened in recent years and which involved essential systems and critics from different countries. Author of the book is one of the leading international cybersecurity experts, Alessandro Curioni, to whom we ask why he chose the form of the novel to talk about such delicate topics: "The novel is the most popular narrative form, the one that allows you to reach the most vast. In my activity as a trainer in the field of cybersecurity I often resort to storytelling, to the story of real events. After all, stories are part of our DNA, we have learned to listen since we were primitive beings. They conquer us, intrigue us, capture attention. Here: for me it was important to intrigue and capture attention on issues that I consider important ".

How much truth and how much imaginative is there in your novel?

“The book was inspired by something that really happened in Ukraine in 2015 and I wrote it straight away the following year. When I presented it to some publishers they replied that science fiction is a genre that doesn't work in Italy. In reality, what I tell in the novel could also happen tomorrow and we would notice it once it was done. Last May, in the United States, the Colonial Pipeline was previously disconnected from the network due to a cyber attack. The result: the inhabitants of the East Coast had to ration fuel for a week ”.

At an institutional level, especially in Italy, is there awareness of the IT risks to which we are constantly exposed?

“There is a lot of talk about the topic of cybersecurity at an institutional level. Then that something concrete is done is all to be seen. For now we travel at the rate of four to five serious attacks every two months and I am talking about those that are reported in the media. Lately, large companies such as Siae, San Carlo, Arcana and ALIA, the company that manages the services of the municipality of Florence, have been involved. Then there are the attacks that nobody talks about and there are hundreds of them. "

Can we citizens do something to defend ourselves against cyber risks?

“First of all we must become aware that the world behind a computer or smartphone screen presents dangers, not just great opportunities. And the greater the opportunities, the greater the dangers. Unfortunately, in front of the web we do not have the classic instinctive reaction that warns us and allows us to be cautious. We think the world behind the screen is not a real, tangible threat. Meanwhile, every week, I receive two or three phone calls from people or companies that have been scammed and have also lost a lot of money ”.

Awareness is therefore the first step ...

"Of course. I wrote my book hoping that the reader would have fun, but at the same time would also put himself a little on the alert. Become aware that giving a smartphone in the hands of their children can involve dangers. Or that it can happen, without due attention, to see all your data deleted. It therefore takes awareness and a sense of responsibility when buying an electronic device. If one day we are going to buy a refrigerator and a smart vacuum cleaner we will first have to ask what protection systems it has, which app it uses to communicate with the smartphone. We will not be able to take these things for granted, otherwise someone will 'enter' our refrigerator and maybe make it explode or order 400 liters of milk online at once ".

The day of the White Rabbit ends with the Arctic having won a battle but still faces a long war. Will his adventures continue?

“Sure, they will continue. The great enemy of Arctic is a mysterious character who lives in the darkest depths of the web: Socrates. For our protagonist what Professor Moriarty has always been for Sherlock Holmes: a continually looming shadow. And it will continue to loom also in the next Arctic adventures ”.