Leonardo snaps up Nordic cybersecurity firms in bid to shift focus

ROME — Italy’s Leonardo is on a shopping spree to beef up Europe’s cyber-defense capability and is targeting Nordic firms to get the job done, CEO Roberto Cingolani has told Defense News.

Cingolani laid out the Italian defense giant’s strategy after announcing a series of new investments during the summer. In July, Leonardo took a €20 million ($23 million), quarter stake in Finnish cyber firm SSH, making Leonardo the largest shareholder and giving it the right to incorporate SSH solutions into its products.

A week later Leonardo said it was buying Swedish cyber specialist Axiomatics, adding to an earlier acquisition of a stake in Swedish start up CanaryBit and a partnership deal with Danish firm Arbit.

“Our recent activity in the Nordic region is not the result of isolated acquisitions, but part of a broader strategic vision to build sovereign and resilient digital ecosystems across Europe,” Cingolani said.

“These initiatives reflect our commitment to strengthening European digital autonomy through technologies and products developed and governed in Europe, for the security and competitiveness of Europe,” Cingolani added.

The CEO said the peculiar qualities of Nordic firms made them key to the plan.

“What makes the region attractive is its combination of cutting-edge digital expertise, mature tech ecosystems, and a strong cultural alignment with the values of transparency, security, and technological independence,” he said.

Both SSH and Axiomatics already work for government agencies and “bring valuable capabilities in areas such as cryptography, secure access, and dynamic authorization — key components for developing trusted European solutions in the defense and critical infrastructure domains,” Cingolani said.

He told Defense News the deals will help Leonardo spearhead a European push towards “Zero Trust” in cyber security.

“The ‘never trust, always verify’ principle is core to the Zero Trust approach,” he said. “This is becoming the benchmark to guarantee high security levels for digital infrastructures, shifting from a traditional cyber security approach – mainly focused on protecting perimeters – to a broader spectrum of cyber resilience. It’s based on a dynamic methodology through which every access is constantly verified, allowing an adequate level of protection for the entire digital infrastructure, from data access to transit and its usage,” he said.

That makes Zero Trust key to defense and critical infrastructure computing, and makes Leonardos investments “a decisive move to build a digital ecosystem secured by key sovereign cyber technologies,” Cingolani claimed.

A physicist by training, Cingolani has sought to put cyber defense at the heart of Leonardo’s core mission since stepping into the CEO role in 2023.

Last year the Italian state-controlled firm announced €648 million in “Cyber and Security Solutions” revenue, with new orders rising 20.4 percent to €833 million.

“The digital space is both a battleground and a strategic asset,” said Cingolani.

“The rapid growth of digitization, combined with the exponential impact of artificial intelligence is transforming how threats emerge and how they must be countered. As platforms become smarter and more connected, the attack surface grows. That makes cyber resilience not optional — but essential,” he said.

“By its nature, the cyber dimension permeates all other domains - air, land, sea, space,” he said, adding, “there can’t be any next-generation combat air, land system, drone, space technology, to name a few, without cyber security by design.”

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——意大利莱昂纳多公司首席执行官罗伯托·辛戈拉尼告诉《防务新闻》，该公司正在进行大规模收购，以增强欧洲的网络防御能力，并瞄准北欧公司来完成这项任务。

在夏季宣布一系列新投资后，辛戈拉尼阐述了这家意大利国防巨头的战略。7月，莱昂纳多斥资2000万欧元（约合2300万美元）收购了芬兰网络安全公司SSH四分之一的股份，成为其最大股东，并获得了将SSH解决方案整合到自身产品中的权利。

一周后，莱昂纳多宣布收购瑞典网络安全专家 Axiomatics，此前该公司已收购瑞典初创公司 CanaryBit 的股份，并与丹麦公司 Arbit 达成合作协议。

“我们最近在北欧地区的活动并非孤立的收购，而是更广泛的战略愿景的一部分，旨在构建覆盖整个欧洲的自主且具有韧性的数字生态系统，”辛戈拉尼表示。

“这些举措体现了我们致力于通过在欧洲开发和管理的科技产品来加强欧洲数字自主性，从而保障欧洲的安全和竞争力，”辛戈拉尼补充道。

首席执行官表示，北欧公司的独特品质使它们成为该计划的关键。

他说：“该地区之所以具有吸引力，是因为它结合了尖端的数字技术专长、成熟的技术生态系统，以及与透明、安全和技术独立价值观的高度文化契合。”

Cingolani 表示，SSH 和 Axiomatics 都已为政府机构提供服务，“并在密码学、安全访问和动态授权等领域带来了宝贵的能力——这些都是在国防和关键基础设施领域开发值得信赖的欧洲解决方案的关键组成部分”。

他告诉《防务新闻》，这些交易将帮助莱昂纳多公司引领欧洲在网络安全领域迈向“零信任”的步伐。

他表示：“‘永不信任，始终验证’原则是零信任方法的核心。这正逐渐成为保障数字基础设施高安全性的基准，它从传统的网络安全方法（主要侧重于保护边界）转向更广泛的网络弹性。零信任方法基于一种动态方法，通过这种方法，每一次访问都会受到持续验证，从而为整个数字基础设施提供充分的保护，涵盖从数据访问到传输和使用的各个环节。”

辛戈拉尼声称，这使得零信任成为国防和关键基础设施计算的关键，并使莱昂纳多的投资成为“构建由关键主权网络技术保护的数字生态系统的决定性举措”。

辛戈拉尼接受过物理学方面的训练，自 2023 年担任首席执行官以来，他一直致力于将网络防御置于莱昂纳多核心使命的核心位置。

去年，这家意大利国有控股公司宣布其“网络和安全解决方案”收入为 6.48 亿欧元，新订单增长 20.4%，达到 8.33 亿欧元。

“数字空间既是战场，也是战略资产，”辛戈拉尼说。

“数字化进程的飞速发展，加上人工智能的指数级增长，正在改变威胁的出现方式以及应对威胁的方式。随着平台变得更加智能、连接更加紧密，攻击面也在不断扩大。这使得网络韧性不再是可有可无的，而是至关重要的，”他说道。

“网络空间本质上渗透到所有其他领域——空中、陆地、海洋、太空，”他说道，“如果没有网络安全的设计，就不可能出现任何下一代作战空中、陆地系统、无人机、太空技术等等。”

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。