This is what Dr. Yaniv Harel, director of the cyber solutions group at EMC and head of the research strategy field at the Multidisciplinary Cyber Center at Tel Aviv University, says in preparation for the academic session that will be held this Wednesday as part of the National Cyber Week that will be held at Tel Aviv University
The decision to establish a cyber branch in the IDF and the activity of the National Cyber Headquarters should signal to industry, academia and the education system that the cyber field will be with us for many years and that the government intends to develop the field and encourage occupation in it. This has the purpose of conveying a message to industry, academia and the education system to prepare themselves accordingly and to cooperate in order to establish Israel's position in the field of cyber defense. This is what Dr. Yaniv Harel, director of the cyber solutions group at EMC and head of research strategy at the Multidisciplinary Cyber Center at Tel Aviv University, says in preparation for the academic session he leads this Wednesday as part of the National Cyber Week that will be held at Tel Aviv University during the coming week ( June 22-25).
The center's website lists all Cyber Week events at Tel Aviv University
"The academic conference entitled "The academic perspective on cyber security challenges" is being held for the second year alongside the international cyber conference as a high-level academic stage attended by experts from Israel and abroad. In the fields of computer science, cryptography and more, but not only in the classic technical fields. Being a multidisciplinary conference, it will also be attended by experts in international relations, economics, and law, as well as lectures in the field of behavioral-technological sciences.
Dr. Harel explains the relationship between government systems and industry from his personal knowledge, when he established the cyber activity at the Ministry of Defense five years ago. "I did this out of the recognition of the importance of introducing the industry as a player in the development of cyber capabilities to the defense system." he adds. The army recognized the issue of cyber as a space in itself, and it is establishing an arm that not only exercises power but also builds power, produces knowledge and develops content in this field.
"Israel is trying to mark this field of knowledge and R&D in cyber and in several efforts that exist in Israel under the leadership of the national headquarters and the academic institutions, a number of research centers in the field of cyber in Israel have been established in the last year or are being established, one of them is the cyber center of Tel Aviv University, ICRC, as well as a center At Ben Gurion University around Kiryat Cyber which was established in Be'er Sheva, and also at the Technion such a center is in the process of being established, as well as at Bar-Ilan and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem."
"At a time when both business entities and governments are troubled by cyber attacks and some of which are things whose signature is not known in advance, such as the Doku 2 virus that the Kaspersky company recently revealed or other targeted attacks, the academic world and academic research capabilities are trying to contribute to dealing with such unknown threats.
"The cyber bodies in the army were each founded as a direct continuation of their original area of responsibility, in the fields of intelligence, and in the fields of ICT. Each of them developed capabilities over time, some of which started from previous generations of the same technology and over time became cyber and thus several cyber islands were created within the IDF and the Ministry of Defense. Several years ago, the possibility of establishing a cyber command was examined and it was decided to begin the first phase of creating a cyber headquarters that would begin with the creation of coordination between the bodies and a common language because when they come from different worlds, everyone brings their own professional language and when they meet it turns out that there is difficulty even in creating communication and sharing knowledge with each other .”
If you look at history and previous revolutions such as the electronics revolution, the computer revolution, not every revolution led to the establishment of such an arm. They did not establish the electronics branch or the computer branch in the IDF or the computer command. Over the years and with the understanding that cyber behaves more as a space of action and not as a technological revolution, the insight that led to the Chief of Staff's current decision to establish the cyber arm was gradually born. This is a historic decision that marks the State of Israel's understanding that there is real scope for action, that the State of Israel cannot afford to be even a little less good than others in this space and even wants to lead in the field and base itself on the capabilities that exist in the country and all the talent that exists in the security system and the Israeli market in this field."
International cooperation in the field of cyber
Israel's main international cyber conference will be held for the fifth year at Tel Aviv University, between June 25-22, as part of the National Cyber Week. The conference is led by the Blavatnik Multidisciplinary Center for Cyber Research and the Yuval Na'eman Workshop for Science, Technology and Security at Tel Aviv University, in collaboration with the National Cyber Headquarters in the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The conference will deal with diplomatic aspects of terrorism and cybercrimes; international collaborations to combat cybercrime and online terrorism; preparedness of countries and systems for targeted cyber attacks (TPA) and protection of critical infrastructures and financial institutions; New trends and innovative solutions for cyber defense and warfare; Cyber aspects of the mobile revolution and the "Internet of Things"; issues in the field of privacy and information protection in the cyber era; Policy and regulatory issues.
Among the participants: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, cyber advisor to Presidents Obama and Bush Jr., Howard Schmidt, cyber coordinator at the US State Department Christopher Painter, international cyber expert Bruce Schneier, head of the Singapore Cyber Staff, David Koh, editor-in-chief of Economist Edward Lux, former governor of the Bank of Israel Prof. Yaakov Frankel, head of the National Cyber Headquarters in the Prime Minister's Office Dr. Avitar Matanya, developer of the Iron Dome Dr. Danny Gold, former commander of Unit 8200 and founder of Team8 - a unique platform for establishing cyber ventures, Nadav Tzafarir , Chief Scientist at the Ministry of Economy Dr. Avi Hasson, Vice President for Cloud Information Security at Microsoft, Matt Tomlinson, Vice President for Government Relations at Qualcomm, Dean Brenner, Gartner Analyst Aviva Litan, and many others.
Prof. Yitzhak Ben Israel, head of the Blavatnik Multidisciplinary Center for Cyber Research (ICRC): "The most private information about us is contained in databases hosted in the cloud, complex systems can be remotely controlled and each of us carries a smartphone in our pocket, which is a powerful computer. This is the cyber era and it is present in our lives - from the level of the state to the level of the personal computer. The ability of attackers to disrupt our lives - and even endanger them - is no longer science fiction but a daily reality that must be prepared for. As in other arenas, here too Israel is at the forefront of research and development to ensure a safer world in the future as well."
