IL MONDO: ITALIAN ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE OF POLITICS, ECONOMICS, CULTURE, SOCIETY

From a happy intuition 26 years ago, the story of the Italian warriors of cybersecurity

In 1996, when Itway was founded in Ravenna, no one could have suspected that internet security would become a central issue. However, just looking at the last few months shows how essential online security is for everyone. In 2022, cyberattacks increased by 38%, with approximately 40 million occurring each day. Fortunately, experts in this field watch over us, as CEO Andrea Farina tells us more.

How did Itway come about?

“We were born on July 4, 1996, at the dawn of the Internet Era. At that time, I was the general manager of a company dealing with these technologies. I sensed that an interesting business opportunity would arise in this new world, where specialized protection technologies would be necessary for the products that would gradually be created. Since then, by signing the first agreements with some giants in the industry, such as Oracle and CheckPoint, and importing these new technologies to Italy, we began training what were then ‘the technicians of tomorrow,’ meaning those who today manage these tools.”

What type of clientele do you serve?

“The most vulnerable to hacker attacks today are public administration, schools, universities, healthcare, and industry. The question we all need to ask is not if I will be attacked, but when. Attacks come in various forms: malware, email attachments, web pages, pop-ups, social engineering, phishing, and more. Since this is a global problem, we need to act worldwide: about 85% of our clients are abroad, and we are leaders in cybersecurity in Greece and Turkey. The Business Unit Data Science, represented by the company 4Science with its open-source DSpace products, has clients everywhere: Singapore, the Middle East, Europe, the United States, Peru, Italy. Our clients include prestigious universities (like Harvard University in Boston) and research centers, as well as ancient libraries (such as the National Library of Naples). These are organizations that require high-level expertise, which is why we strive to enhance and develop our professional excellence in Italy with significant training investments.”

The success of Itway is also demonstrated by its presence on the Milan Stock Exchange, where the company has been listed on the main MTA market since July 4, 2001. Additionally, Itway decided on December 30, 2022, to list 4Science S.p.A. on the Vienna Stock Exchange.

What frontiers will you explore in the future?

“We are already well-positioned in the main sectors, such as cybersecurity. As a 100% Italian company with over 25 years of experience, we are able to be competitive with emerging industry companies. The same applies to our experience in Big Data, particularly in Data Science and Digital Repository with 4Science. Moreover, at Itway, we have already patented interesting technologies that we intend to continue developing, such as ICOY MOVER®, a solution that makes extensive use of Artificial Intelligence, designed to prevent workplace accidents caused by crush injuries due to load losses or collisions with moving work equipment. Through cutting-edge deep learning AI, we can immediately recognize dangerous situations and trigger alarms, safeguarding workers. It’s such an innovative product that we even invented the name of the segment it belongs to: cyber safety. We will continue our internal growth path with further investments and follow an external growth path by acquiring other small to medium-sized companies interested in sharing our vision and joining our Group. Finally, we want to be more present in the national market, which today represents only 15% of our business volume; however, we intend to maintain a very significant presence abroad.”

Passionate about aviation and a pilot, Andrea Farina intends to help Itway soar ever higher. To push it, as the famous ace of the skies Francesco Baracca used to say, “ad maiora”!