Igino Corona, Eng. Ph.D.

I am an Electronic Engineer, with a Ph.D. in Electronic and Computer Engineering from the University of Cagliari, Italy.

For 20 years now, I've been researching computer security and machine learning in hostile environments (adversarial machine learning/artificial intelligence). My primary goal has always been to design and implement "intelligent" automatic systems for detecting—and protecting against—cyber attacks. This professional goal is part of a broader objective, one that makes me proud: to be able to contribute (in my own small way) to improving modern society. I truly believe in it. Because computer security is now a fundamental human right, the foundation of so many others.

I have been among the pioneers of adversarial machine learning to create detection mechanisms whose learning itself is robust to attacks by an intelligent adversary. Through the systems I designed/developed, I was able to detect (and sometimes implemented as proof of concept) real-world sophisticated attacks, invisible to the most important state-of-the-art detection and protection systems in the industrial, commercial, and research sectors such as Google Safebrowsing, Google Play Protect, OpenDNS, Quad9, DGArchive, SpamHaus, PhishTank, Abuse.ch, VirusTotal, Imperva, PaloAlto Firewall, and LastLine.

I spent part of my doctorate at the Information Security Center, Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, USA) - one of the most prestigious centers in the world for cybersecurity - before obtaining my PhD (2010) and working as a researcher at the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of the University of Cagliari until 2018. I then decided to dedicate myself full-time to the activities of Pluribus One, a university startup, spinoff of the same department, which I co-founded in 2015.

Scientific publications

I have co-authored over 30 papers published in international conferences and journals in the fields of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, with a total of approximately 5,000 citations and an h-index of 20 (as of July 2025). More information on the Google Scholar page.

Research projects on cybersecurity and artificial intelligence

Below is a list of the major research projects I have worked on, or am currently working on, in collaboration with universities, companies, and major international organizations. The title links to the relevant website, or a copy if the original is no longer online, where you can find more details.

Systems for the protection against cyber attacks

Below is a non-exhaustive list of tools and prototypes I (co)designed and developed.

Teaching and training assignments

During my PhD and as a researcher at the University of Cagliari (2007-2018), I held teaching positions for the course Artificial Intelligence, Operating Systems and Cyber Security for Electronic and Telecommunications engineering students and for PhD students in Electronic and Computer Engineering.

It has been an honor for me to guide and supervise the work of many brilliant students, who are now established professionals. The theses of Matteo Contini, Davide Maiorca (now associate professor at the University of Cagliari), and Mauro Marongiu were awarded by Clusit (Italian Association for Information Security), while Simone Moro's was recognized by the Italian Department of Information Security of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. Enrico Salis and Guido Mureddu have become development team leaders at Pluribus One.

I also managed the Computer Security Technical Committee of the Italian Group of Researchers in Pattern Recognition, now the Italian Association for Research in Computer Vision, Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning (affiliated to the International Association for Pattern Recognition) and was one of the organizers and a teacher at the Summer School on Computer Security & Privacy Building Trust in the Information Age.

As part of Pluribus One's activities, I have provided numerous cybersecurity training courses for private companies and public administrations.

Clusit Community For Security

I am part of the Clusit Community For Security expert working group, committed to producing free, high-quality documentation to support companies addressing information security issues. Specifically, I have contributed to the following books and conferences:

Other personal interests

Music

It's been 30 years since I bought my first guitar. It was a classical guitar, but as soon as I could, I bought an electric one. I taught myself to play it, and then joined various rock bands, performing at many events, festivals, and concerts around Sardinia. Here I play one of my favorite solos (Deep Purple, Highway Star, Live in Japan version). This passion even led me to produce an original album (Stereotipami, Damagianco group, in 2009).

Music is something extraordinary, and playing it in a band is special. During performances, I can say I've repeatedly experienced the profound sensation of being one with the other band members (what's called "flow"), which I think reflects the most beautiful part of the human soul: feeling part of something much bigger, while also knowing that my contribution, with and for others, is important and fundamental.

Science

Our best strategy for understanding reality is based on objective evidence (facts) and has a name: the scientific method. Despite its name, this method is not a niche for scientists, but a true mindset that we should apply in every field of knowledge, as it has revolutionized our view of the world (Universe) and greatly improved our living conditions. If you're curious—and you should be—you can visit my science outreach project, of which my books The Reality (recommended for everyone) and The Elements of Reality (for those not afraid of equations and who want to delve deeper into the most extraordinary aspects of Nature, from the elementary to the cosmological level) are an integral part. These books are currently available only in Italian, I am still working on an English version.