“Startupper, don't fall too in love with your idea, listen to the needs of the market”
We spoke with Simone Pezzoli, Chief Digital Technology Officer of Haier Europe, a member of the Advisory Board of our Cybershield acceleration program.
Are washing machines, air conditioners and ovens in a smart home at risk of cyber attacks? Not if you are working on remote updates and on a continuous implementation of product security measures. Large appliance companies are increasingly aware of this and there are antidotes to possible data breaches and tampering with the electricity grid. We talked about the awareness and perception of cyber security with Simone Pezzoli, Chief Digital Technology Officer of Haier Europe, member of the Advisory Board of the Cybershield acceleration program, created by Nana Bianca with the National Cybersecurity Agency and C*Sparks.
“This program is a great opportunity for me to help increase awareness in Italy of cybersecurity risks, an area in which our country still invests too little, but also a way to transform good Italian products into attractive solutions for the market. The Parliament approved the Cybersecurity Bill, but many other regulations are being defined at European level to combat cybercrime, strengthen cyber diplomacy and cyber defense. In short, the moment is profitable to enhance innovative projects with vertical focuses in this field.”
In particular, Pezzoli considers the increase in the use of AI technologies in cybersecurity as a positive fact: “Large companies are constantly looking for resources to be used in their cybersecurity teams, knowing how to use AI will soon be a discriminant factor, certainly a skill to add to the curriculum of experts in the field, a system that can simplify life by bringing value to work.”
Haier's CDTO then talks about the experience in his company which, through SOC (Security Operations Center), in 22 countries, works on continuous monitoring of IT activity to be able to manage and mitigate threats and above all describes the product's security strategy: “We want to offer customers connected and smart solutions that ensure advanced security standards thanks to the Gold level certification issued by UL Solutions (an independent global company that deals with security science) that provides objective credentials, in addition to updates managed remotely through our application to give adequate protection to the personal data stored and transmitted and to the basic settings.”
Pezzoli invites startups to work to exploit technology in favor of simple, easy-to-use solutions that can help companies face increasingly complex cyber threats. Take as an example the experience of Ermes from Turin, a startup that works on browser security, the only Italian company selected by Gartner (www.gartner.com/en), a world leader in IT research and consulting, is among the top 100 organizations that use artificial intelligence to detect and defend against increasingly effective attacks on corporate security. “Their solution meets the market's need for simple, fast products at sustainable prices. I tell young startups not to fall too in love with their product but to meet what the market asks for in order to be able to scale up by making the most of their business projects.”
