How Israel plans to tackle cyber-attacks with a ‘Cyber-Dome’

Bee Cyber ​​Week in Tel Aviv, Israel, Gaby Portnoy, the new director general of the country’s Cyber ​​Directorate, announced the Cyber-Dome project – a new big data, AI, global approach to proactive cyber defense. This project is expected to be a concerted effort between cybersecurity leaders in Israel and around the world in preparation for what Portnoy says is undeniably “the most prominent dimension of future warfare.”

In his words, “The Cyber-Dome will enhance national cybersecurity by implementing new mechanisms in the national cyber perimeter and reduce the damage of cyber-attacks on a large scale. The Cyber-Dome will also provide tools and services to protect national cybersecurity assets as a whole… and will synchronize real-time threat detection, analysis and mitigation nationally.”

Threats to Israeli cyberspace are increasing

although Research has proven that every computer system is subject to cyber-attacks, attacks on a country’s government agencies, high-tech companies and defense infrastructure, as well as economic crimes in the multimillion dollar range are considered”significant‘ because of their far-reaching consequences. In the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) latest survey, a survey of significant cyber-attacks by country, revealed that Israel ranks 14th with 11 recorded large-scale cyber-attacks. What this means is that of the multi-billion dollar cyber-attacks Hospitalized per year Israel has a large share.

Just for ransomware: review of 80 million samples from 140 countries revealed a 600% increase in ransomware activity, giving the country the least coveted badge of most affected by ransomware since 2020. Health institutions were also not left out of the digital ambush, as Israel’s Ministry of Health National Cyber ​​Directorate (INCD) recorded in 2021 a dramatic increase in the extent and quality of cyber-attacks targeting the country’s medical sector – with about 1,400 attacks per week.

Fast forward to the first half of 2022 and cyber attackers have already spread threatening messages through several Israeli news channels, launched a DDoS attack that led to the shutdown of many government websites, successfully monitored sensitive members of the country’s security organization, airstrikes in two major Israeli cities, former government officials such as the former US Ambassador to Israel.

Recreate the Iron Dome effect

Even after stopping 1,500 attacks in the past year, the INCD still believed it was critical to hone its cyber defenses. Just as his skies are protected by his Iron Dome – a state-of-the-art mobile missile air defense system with multiple missions – Israel has decided to protect its cyberspace with equal sophistication. The Cyber-Dome, an Iron Dome analogy, will be “an ongoing cyber defense effort to keep the national cyberspace cleaner,” Portnoy said.

In what was his first public speech as DG of the INCD, Portnoy said the first assignment would be to reframe the challenge by seeing the security gaps as opportunities and not problems. By doing this, technology leaders are able to create cybersecure-by-design solutions that zero trust approachhe said.

Going forward, Portnoy emphasized that the project would shift the focus from mere resilience to broadening defenses. In this way, agents from the right sides of the three-sided spectrum (attackers, cybersecurity infrastructure, and the global internet) are given a level playing field to bolster their defenses.

He stressed the “need to protect national assets in the best possible way and make the cybersecurity protocols used for critical infrastructure available to more sectoral organizations in the public and private domain.” By providing organizations with better cybersecurity tools, such as smart identification policies and improving national risk management practices, the attackers would have a harder time completing their missions.

‘You can’t fight cyber-aggression alone’

In addressing these challenges, the INCD said it found there was no “official enemy” of any kind. Instead, the attackers ranged from regular attackers to attack groups, proxies, independent criminal organizations and even private individuals. To build a defense against these actors, Portnoy emphasized that cooperation and mutual accountability are essential. “You cannot fight cyber-aggression alone. You have to have partners at home, in your defense community, in government, in the different sectors, in the academy, in the private sector and around the world.”

By leveraging the power of regulators in the government sector, the security community, the global cybersecurity industry, and even citizens, Portnoy is confident that enhancing national cybersecurity defenses is possible.

CyberWeek is an international cybersecurity conference held annually in Tel Aviv, Israel. It is organized by the INCD and the Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber ​​Research Center from Tel Aviv University.