Category: Public Policy and National Security

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Pfizer vaccine. Does adverse reaction information back up conspiracy theorists?

Spreading news about Pfizer vaccines’ allergic reactions is dangerous. A change in a communication strategy is urgent.

By Andrea Monti – Originally published in Italian by Infosec.News

After the British patient, other people (two nurses from a hospital in Alaska) suffered an extreme allergic reaction within ten minutes after the administration of the vaccine.

The news, in itself, is not relevant because any vaccine can have side effects and, as written in another article, it is simply wrong to think that the administration of a vaccine, as of any drug, cannot have consequences ranging from annoying to lethal. Concerning the specific case of the Pfizer vaccine, then, not being an expert, it is wise to refrain from any technical consideration, and wait to read some scientific study that explores the topic. Continue reading “Pfizer vaccine. Does adverse reaction information back up conspiracy theorists?”

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Leonardo’s lesson

by Andrea Monti – originally published by Infosec.News

A note for the non-Italian readers: Leonardo is the biggest Italian defence contractor. Recently the company has discovered a massive information theft related to critical pieces of defence equipment, allegedly committed by two insiders. According to the prosecution, the exfiltration went on undisturbed for about two years before being discovered.

A great deal has already been said about the massive illegal exfiltration of data suffered by Leonardo, about the difference between the institutional narrative of cybersecurity and the dramatic situation of the Italian infosec, and about the regulatory superfetation burdening national security. However, something still lasts to be discussed: the less-than-proportional relationship between the members’ quantity of a structure and their “loyalty” to the structure itself. Continue reading “Leonardo’s lesson”

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Terrorism and the abuse of fundamental rights

Acts of terrorism in France and Austria call for reflection on the political and tactical use of human rights by States as an instrument of anti-terrorist propaganda. Is the exercise of fundamental freedoms put at risk in the name of realpolitik? The analysis of Andrea Monti, adjunct professor of Law and Order and Public Security, University of Chieti-Pescara – Originally published in Italian by Formiche.net

There is no way, at least for now, of knowing whether the murder of the French teacher Samuel Paty, the killing of three people in Nice and the massacre in Vienna are the execution of a global plan, or whether they are individual events, planned and carried out by individuals or criminal cells. We also ignore if the spark that triggered them is – once again – the satire of Charlie Hebdo (a fact certainly connected to the assassination of Samuel Paty, but not to the others). Continue reading “Terrorism and the abuse of fundamental rights”

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Italian Prime Minister Decree 131/20 on the cyber perimeter increases confusion and does not protect national security

By Andrea Monti – Originally published in Italian by Infosec.News

Italian Prime Minister Decree 131/2020 is one of the acts resulting from the enactment of Law Decree 105/19, later converted into Law 133/09 establishing the national cyber perimeter, a concept also relevant for the application of Legislative Decree 65/18, transposing EU Directive 1148/16 (NIS Directive). While this sentence appears to be illegible and incomprehensible, the choices and content of the Prime Ministerial Decree are even more so because they increase the level of the contradiction of a body of legislation which, by regulating national security, should instead be easy to understand and agile to apply.

However, first things first. Continue reading “Italian Prime Minister Decree 131/20 on the cyber perimeter increases confusion and does not protect national security”