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Four Leonardo - UNIGE Cybersecurity Scholarship Program winners excelled in the training course and received a Leonardo-funded scholarship. Launched in October last year, with the selection of 56 enrolled students from the Department of Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics and Systems Engineering of the University of Genoa, the programme alternated traditional training with actual immersion in the cyber threat. Various innovative learning activities based on gaming and simulation models provided knowledge and operational training for the cyber defence of digital infrastructures.
Participants challenged each other in a first hands-on exercise, a Capture-the-Flag-style ‘cyber threat hunt’, answering a series of increasingly complex questions along a virtual pathway that simulated the analysis and management activities of a real cyber security incident. The subsequent tests occurred at Leonardo’s Cyber & Security Academy in Torre Fiumara, with the Evaluation Committee - comprising Leonardo experts and professors from the University – interviewing the top 15 candidates to ascertain their soft skills. During the last test, the eight finalists competed in a virtualised ICT scenario using Cyber Range, a platform developed by Leonardo and used by the experts to improve the ability to respond to cyber threats and train new recruits to protect the country’s strategic assets. The joint development by the University of Genoa and Leonardo as part of the ARTIC (Affordable, Reusable and Truly Interoperable Cyber ranges) research project further enhanced Cyber Range with new, even more realistic attack and defence scenarios.
The winning students - Riccardo Isola, Giacomo Tiscornia, Ludovico Capiaghi and Gabriele Dellepere - received four grants to study cybersecurity techniques and tools in partnership with Leonardo Cyber & Security Solutions and under the supervision of the DIBRIS teaching staff.
An ecosystem in synergy with the University
The Scholarship Program, like other initiatives developed in cooperation with the academic world, testifies to Leonardo’s commitment to nurturing a synergistic ecosystem between the key players in the cybersecurity sector, in industry and in academia. In particular, the partnership launched with the University of Genoa offers genuine job opportunities for the winners and a valuable source of recruiting for the company, which provides its know-how and technologies developed in cyber and physical security. Moreover, for Leonardo it further confirms that cooperation with the education system is one of the main levers for attracting the best talent and nurturing continuous innovation.
The program reflects Leonardo’s role as a regional development engine, thanks also to its extensive network of partnerships with key stakeholders and contributes to the dissemination of a safety culture by developing technical knowledge and enhancing the ‘human factor’, a crucial approach to fully benefit from the advantages of digitisation.
For more information: cyberandsecurity@leonardocompany.com
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