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Hackers and digital activists have fully entered the wars waged with digital propaganda, electronic sabotage, cyber espionage and software hacking tools. DDoS attacks, malware, ransomware, but also algorithms, deepfakes, trolls and bots are their weapons. This is how they participate in the hybrid war fought among States. In this scenario, it is alleged that the techniques for manipulating perceptions that exploit digital tools are fully included among the weapons of hybrid warfare, as they are capable of influencing the reactivity of the adversary. In this regard we speak of Cognitive War. This also means that information campaigns are no longer based only on traditional media, but also on digital media, social platforms and direct messaging channels. Among the tools of these campaigns, those of computational propaganda, used to change the mindset of the target, to generate fear, uncertainty, and doubt, are increasingly arousing the concerns of States. The reason is easy to understand: where public opinion is able to influence the choices of the warring parties, manipulation can change the phases of the conflict. In this paper we will try to describe the techniques of computational propaganda and how hacker activists and State hackers can use them. Indeed, in the global election year ahead of us, 2024, computational propaganda could represent a risk for the democratic process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents "The Big Game", a free training and gaming initiative on cybersecurity, digital awareness, and safe use of the Net and social networks, aimed at young people, carried out by the Cybersecurity National Lab of CINI (National Interuniversity Consortium for Informatics), under the sponsorship of the National Cybersecurity Agency - ACN. More than 30 thousand students have been involved so far, thanks also to the development of a network of high schools, which support these activities by accompanying their students in the different organized programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]