Pietro Melillo is a cybersecurity professional with solid experience in Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI), security governance, and advanced threat analysis. His background combines high-level operational roles, academic research, and technical dissemination, with a strong focus on understanding threat ecosystems and their impact on business.

Current Positions

• Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) – Würth Italy: Responsible for defining and governing the enterprise-wide cybersecurity strategy across multiple business entities. Oversees regulatory compliance, with a strong focus on the NIS2 Directive, and the adoption and continuous improvement of international standards such as ISO/IEC 27001. He also leads organization-wide initiatives in incident response, vulnerability management, security awareness, and AI governance, ensuring alignment between security controls, regulatory requirements, and business objectives.
• PhD Researcher in Cyber Threat Intelligence – University of Sannio: Research activities focused on the ransomware ecosystem, dark web dynamics, and data-driven models for cyber threat analysis and prediction.
• Director of the CTI Group “DarkLab” – Red Hot Cyber: Coordinates research, monitoring, and dissemination activities related to emerging threats, underground ecosystems, and the evolution of cybercrime.

Core Competencies

• Cyber Threat Intelligence: advanced threat analysis, predictive models, and study of digital criminal ecosystems.
• Security Governance & Compliance: integration of cybersecurity, regulatory frameworks, and business strategies (NIS2, ISO/IEC 27001).
• Incident Response & Vulnerability Management: structured handling of security incidents and risk mitigation processes.
• AI Governance & Security Awareness: governance models and awareness programs for emerging technologies.

Initiatives and Contributions

• Academic teaching: lecturer and academic collaborator at several Italian universities, including the University of Rome Tor Vergata and the University of Sannio, delivering courses on CTI, dark web analysis, and cybercrime.
• Applied research: development of studies and analyses based on empirical data and threat intelligence methodologies, with a strong focus on operational applicability.
• Knowledge sharing: active contributor to Red Hot Cyber initiatives, supporting the dissemination of knowledge on emerging cyber threats.

Professional Vision

He advocates for an integrated approach to cybersecurity that combines research, operations, and governance, aiming to anticipate threats through data-driven analysis and a deep understanding of digital criminal ecosystems. His goal is to reduce decision-making uncertainty and enhance organizational resilience in an ever-evolving threat landscape.

Web resources

• Personal site on GitHub
• Talk on RHC Conference 2025
• Account X Pietro Melillo
• Pubblication on ScienceDirect