Tina Salerno
Tina Salerno is a PhD candidate in Cybersecurity at the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca and the University of Bologna since December 1, 2023.
She currently serves as a teaching assistant for the Forensic Computer Science course at the University of Bologna, after previously working as a tutor for the Master’s program in Personal Data Processing and Data Protection Officer (2023–2025 edition), under the supervision of Prof. Raffaella Brighi.
She obtained her qualification to practice law at the Court of Appeal of Catanzaro on November 4, 2022, following 18 months of professional training at Studio Legale Anania, specializing in criminal proceedings related to organized crime and offenses against public administration, individuals, and property. During this period, she collaborated with the DDA of Catanzaro on investigations concerning violations of Article 416-bis of the Italian Penal Code.
She earned a second-level Master’s degree from San Raffaele University, Rome, with a final grade of 110/110 cum laude, presenting a thesis titled “The Use of Trojans in Criminal Proceedings Conducted by the Anti-Mafia District Directorate: Analysis of the Evidentiary Value of Captures in the Stige Case.”
She was awarded the AWS Scholarship at the IFOSS International Summer School in 2024 and 2025, led by Professors Giovanni Ziccardi, Sebastiano Battiato, and Donatella Curtotti, in recognition of her academic merits in the field of law and technology.
In 2025, she conducted a research period abroad as a visiting researcher at the Digital Justice Center of the University of Wrocław (Poland), supported by an Erasmus+ grant. During this time, she developed a research project on the assessment of the intrusiveness of artificial intelligence systems in international criminal investigations, proposing new criteria to balance fundamental rights, security, and evidentiary reliability in technologically advanced contexts.
In addition to her passion for international anti-mafia cooperation and emerging technologies, Tina enjoys writing poetry. In fact, she was recognized as an emerging contemporary Italian poet during her visiting period at our center, with one of her poems published in the volume “ALì penne d’autore – poesie d’amore.” She has stated that the long walks along the Oder River allowed her to observe the romantic vision of relationships held by the Polish people, leaving her deeply inspired by the way culture and everyday life intertwine in expressions of love and human connection.
Research stay report: https://digitaljustice.uwr.edu.pl/en/2025/12/17/research-stay-report-by-tina-salerno/.
