Cyber ​​risks for engineers

The refrain is always the same: the future is digital. In an era in which everything can be managed through a smartphone, from home burglar alarms to taking out insurance with Lokky, the pandemic has only accelerated a change that was already inevitable: the transition towards a «digital» world has now infiltrated all daily environments, both professional and private, binding all «users» toforced use of new 4.0 technologies.

It would be naive, however, to think that the digital revolution has only brought with it benefits. Just as we have seen for other professions (read also: What are we talking about when we talk about Cyber ​​Risk), there cannot be a Dr. Jekyll without his Mr. Hyde. Together with technological innovation, in fact, all the IT infrastructures on which we rely every day are constantly exposed to a load of new dangers and risks connected to their very IT nature: the Cyber ​​risk. And among the various professional categories affected, the Engineers they are no exception.

What is Cyber ​​Risk

To put it in the words of the Institute of Risk Management, Cyber ​​Risk is «any risk of financial loss, destruction or even simply damage to the reputation of a brand, company or commercial entity that is attributable to a malfunction of the IT system». We talk about Cyber ​​Risk, in short, every time a harmful event for an IT system (whether accidental or a negligent attack organized by third parties) causes huge economic losses to any company, company, professional and/or professional firm (hardware, software, databases, etc.).

It can manifest itself in different forms, through a virus or a deceptive email, but there is no doubt that today Cyber ​​Risk represents the greatest threat to all activities and/or professions. Let alone for Engineers, a profession that more than many others in recent years has evolved to become practically 100% digital. And let alone in a period like the pandemic, in which the health emergency has forced professionals to adopt the new logic of smartworking (or «agile work», to put it in Italian).

Cyber ​​risks for engineers

Just as has happened to other professionals such as architects or surveyors, but also technical or industrial experts, today the computer has become the work tool par excellence, especially for technical professions. It goes without saying, therefore, that also most of the Engineers’ documents have been transferred to computer media.

In short, the gist is simple: the Engineer is in front of a computer from morning to night, and the success of his entire activity is linked to the computer. It is clear, however, that such a close dependence on an electronic infrastructure brings with it important consequences, including the possibility of being exposed to the two main types of IT risk:

• IT RISK, i.e. those risks deriving from accidental events on IT systems (think of a lightning strike that short-circuits the entire IT infrastructure of a firm, or a power surge that shuts everything down before having saved perhaps valuable documents);
• CYBER CRIME (which is the real «Computer Crime»), or the risks connected to the occurrence of criminal activities at the hands of a third party (cyber attacks).

Engineers and Cyber ​​Risk: new forms of the profession

Now an integral part of the core business of any corporate, commercial and/or professional reality, Cyber ​​Risk has concrete consequences on the entire engineering profession. On the one hand because, when it is underestimated, it can lead to very serious problems, from the loss of jobs to the theft of intellectual property; on the other because it impacts the forms and boundaries of the profession itself, transforming them not only into potential victims (therefore passive agents), but also into active figures in the fight against Cyber ​​Risk and in particular cyber attacks (Cyber ​​Crime).

The role of engineers, in fact, as qualified professionals also to guarantee digital security, is increasingly functional precisely to the protection of IT infrastructures. In light of the health emergency linked to COVID-19, among other things, Engineering has become a truly primary sector in guaranteeing safety, work and services, thanks to the intervention of various institutional bodies in support of the Government in the ICT sector.

→ It was thanks to the C3i, for example, that during the first wave of the pandemic a first set of good practices for IT security was developed (SEE IMAGE).