IDF cyberdefenders prepare their responses to the "unknown threat"

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu makes a gesture at the International Forum on Internal Security in Jerusalem conference June 14, 2018 Photo: REUTERS / Ammar Awad

JNS.org – Israeli Defense Forces cyberdefenders prepare to face future unknown threats that will not resemble today's known dangers, recently said a senior IT services JNS.

IDF badessments place cyberwarfare at the same level as potential damage that conventional weapons can cause. And in some cases, cyberattacks can surpbad the damage caused by known threats like missiles. A race for cyber-weapons is raging between Israel and its enemies, in parallel with the ongoing arms race.

At a conference on cybersecurity last month in Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of the challenges and all civilized countries are facing adversaries now determined to commit cyberattacks.

"We can not go back to the world of levers, pulleys and couriers, and since we are moving forward, we are absolutely vulnerable," he said. to be slaughtered; Our fighter planes can be shot down. "

Related Coverage

5 July 2018 11:55

Netanyahu, who said that Israel receives about 20% of global investment in the cyber security sector and noted the center Beersheva's cybersecurity, which combines military, commercial and high-tech know-how, adds that there is no quick fix against cyberthreats.

"This is a test supreme for our civilization.It will be tested not only by criminal organizations [and] by terrorists, but by other states.We must combine our forces, "said Netanyahu.

Sgt. The 1st clbad Mr., head of the cyber department of the IDF Hoshen unit, directs the personnel who defends the sensitive communication networks of the army.

Hoshen Unity is involved in military communications and its members are aware that the enemies of Israel are eager to be able to shut down the IDF networks if they can.

"Of course we can understand that the IDF has been marked as a priority [target]," said Mr. "We are the center of enemies, so we must act proactively, day and night, to defend and follow, and be able to intervene in case of incident. "

As part of this effort, the unit invests a lot of thought in the fight against threats that do not currently exists, he said. "I can say we're always thinking about what's going to happen tomorrow morning about non-trivial things, we're using red teams [personnel that simulate the enemy] to attack ourselves, and we're doing things surprise exercises on ourselves, at 2 am, a summer night, when incidents come as a surprise.That's how we know what our levels of defense are, "said L & R. # 39; officer.

Last month, Hoshen's Cyber ​​Department organized a competition for all cyber-defenders to get them off the beaten path.

The "Capture the Flag" contest was organized by Cisco Systems, an American network hardware giant, in its Netanya office. Cisco works closely with the Hoshen Unit.

"We took a whole day and brought personnel from all over the army, divided them into groups and distributed to the participants puzzles with varying levels of difficulty". "The goal was to earn as many points as possible."

The event included the participation of clbadified units, as well as the cybernetic personnel of the Israeli Air Force and the Navy. The goal was to get them to develop new abilities, "said Mr." Everyone has a lot of strength – some are web experts, some are doing programming, and our goal was to get them out of their routine and expose them to things they are not used to everyday, so that they are not weak in these areas. "

The event also took IDF engineers who do not work directly in the cyber war and gave them an accelerated course in the world of cyber defense.

"They came out at a higher level," the source concluded.