Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced at Cyber Week 2019, held at Tel Aviv University this week, that Israel had employed its cyber intelligence capabilities to foil nearly 50 ISIS terror attacks in dozens of countries across the globe.
For security reasons specifics could not be disclosed, but Netanyahu mentioned that Israel had indeed played a vital role in helping foil an explosion mid-air on an Etihad Airways flight from Sydney to Abu Dhabi. He confirmed that “we used our cyber tools to discover that ISIS was going to do this, and so we alerted the Australian police”, which allowed them to stop this fatal catastrophe from happening.
He told the gathering: “multiply by about 50 and it will give you an idea of the contribution that Israel has made to prevent major terrorist operations, especially from ISIS”.
The Prime Minister spoke about how Israel is at the forefront of the high-tech industry and a world leader in cyber security in an age where the battlefield is quickly shifting from the trenches to the cyber arena. Artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and connectivity are new developments in the cyber landscape that are revolutionising the way security authorities are fighting terrorism.
Netanyahu emphasised that not only is this good for Israel but it is “benefitting the whole world”. He attributed success to Israeli intelligence agencies – Shin Bet and Mossad – and also cooperation with the US. He informed listeners that Israel shares information about cyber-threats with 85 countries.
Director General of the Israel National Cyber Directorate (INCD), Yigal Unna, also headlined at this year’s conference, speaking about increased Iranian hostility in the cyber realm. He said that the Middle East is a “magnet for cyberattacks” and identified Iran as one of the main actors. Mr Unna said that the Gulf countries are primarily targeted because they are less secured than Israel.
Cyber Week is an annual conference held at Tel Aviv University which attracts close to 10,000 attendees from over 60 countries. It is regarded as one of the major cybersecurity events worldwide with over 50 workshops, forums and competitions throughout the week.
