On the front line against the Maranza, but exposed on the hacking front. Keyboard warriors wanted for the hybrid war

In short, we are at war; but a hybrid one. Which I imagine is the sort of war that Roberto Vannacci doesn’t like: that ‘hybrid’ aspect, in fact, strips war of all its masculinity, its virility, giving way instead to a more fluid, more intersectional conflict – I would dare say gendered, performative, and indeed hybrid. No missiles (a typical phallic symbol), replaced instead by codes and keyboards; in short, fewer legs and fewer arms, more fingers. It is a conflict that is less penetrative and more manipulative: rather than direct attacks, adversaries tease and pick at each other until they are worn down. This is a sedentary war that can even be fought from home, in one’s underwear—camouflage underwear perhaps, to preserve the allure of the uniform. Yet this does not diminish its status as war; on the contrary: in recent days, due to numerous bomb threats against commercial aircraft in European airspace, dozens of flights in Italy were forced to make emergency landings, while others were escorted by military fighter jets; passengers appeared unable to reach their destinations—an experience likened to travelling by train. In addition, numerous refrigerators and freezers have been targeted by hackers: supermarket staff realised something was amiss when they noticed that people walking past the chilled display were not experiencing their usual stomach ache from the cold. The outcome of these attacks was dramatic: tonnes of frozen food went to waste. It is suspected that the Russians – or, to be precise, Russian dieticians – are behind these attacks on the fridges. (Many nutritionists in Italy became Putin supporters upon hearing the news: the Russian hackers succeeded where their own dietary plans had failed.)

Italy is a digitally backward country; so it’s hardly surprising that we’re not up to the task of this hybrid war. We send our soldiers to defend shop windows in central Milan instead of sending them on refresher courses. We’re on the front line against the Maranza, but exposed on the hacking front. But is that really the case? Perhaps, within civil society, there are the resources the country needs at this historic moment. Consider the streamers: young people who spend as many as seven or eight hours a day in front of a computer playing video games live on Twitch. Why not deploy them to counter-attack the Russians, still streaming live of course, so that they can earn a bit of money—as we all know the Ministry of Defence pays very little. Moreover, for years now in Italy we have been fuelling social media shitstorms and public shaming: why not recruit all the keyboard warriors in Italy? These are people accustomed to tearing each other apart on social media over every piece of nonsense; let them do it for their country and in defence of our IT systems. Moreover, we should prepare younger generations to defend our data: this does not imply reintroducing compulsory military service, but rather adopting a strategy that is the opposite of the government’s proposal to ban mobile phones for children under 14. Rather than removing phones, we should introduce them at an earlier age—while ensuring they are not placed in children’s mouths, of course. Let our children (the few we have) get used to fighting hybrid warfare from a very tender age: the more they are digital natives, the better equipped they will be to defend themselves and fight back.