海角大神

This week Israel took a groundbreaking step to protect its public and economy against computer attacks by approving plans for a听sweeping new cybersecurity authority.

On Sunday, Israel鈥檚 security cabinet gave the green light for a cyberdefense authority,听which will be rolled out gradually over the next three years and eventually have a annual budget of $38 to $50 million. The authority will听require the government to set higher standards of cyberdefense for its own ministries, encourage private companies to do the same, and establish a national Cyber Event Readiness Team (CERT), a sort of 911 center for responding to cyberattacks on the civilian sector.

Many countries such as the US already have national centers or programs designed to bridge the gap between the government and privacy sector to help improve cybersecurity. But听Israeli cybersecurity experts says because of the broad powers of the new authority, Israel is taking a pioneering step and听in effect leap-frogging other top cyber powers in the world.听

Indeed, Washington is just now debating how to implement President Obama's push for institutionalizing cyberthreat information sharing between the government and business, as well as establishing the president's newly proposed national听Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center.

The Israeli decision comes as the country is facing a growing number of politically motivated cyberattacks that the government is attributing to both Iran as well as Palestinian militant groups. Defending against all cyberattacks costs the country roughly听$2 billion per year, according to the Israel National Cyber Bureau (INCB).

鈥淭his new Israeli authority goes far beyond anything contemplated in the US,鈥� says Lior Tabansky of Tel Aviv University鈥檚 Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center, who is coauthoring a book on cyberpolicy with INCB founder Isaac Ben-Israel. 鈥淭he idea is to have a national-level organization that is not military, not law enforcement, and not intelligence but 鈥� leverages some of their capabilities for the civilian sector, the common citizens.鈥�

Israel is widely assumed to have helped develop Stuxnet, which severely damaged Iran鈥檚 uranium enrichment capabilities. And when it comes to cybersecurity readiness,听Israel outranked all the major cyber powers, including the US, Russia, and China on cyberdefense, according to a 2012 McAfee .

It also boasts one of the most vibrant technical communities in the world focused on cybersecurity.听Graduates of the Israeli military鈥檚 top cyberunits have helped start some of today's leading security software providers including Check Point Software Technologies. Last year alone,听eight Israeli cyber companies sold for a total of about $700 million, while funding for Israeli cyber firms grew by about 40 percent.

But until now that hasn鈥檛 translated into an overarching policy that protects everyday citizens and the economy.

鈥淭here is a certain level of maturity and sophistication and 鈥� big-picture thinking that I think is now coming into play,鈥� says Keren Elazari, a research fellow with the Yuval Ne鈥檈man Workshop for Science, Technology, and Security at Tel Aviv University. 鈥淭his new authority 鈥� [is] going to have to create this protective umbrella, like Iron Dome, but in cyberspace.鈥�

During last summer鈥檚 Gaza war, very few of Hamas鈥檚 rockets inflicted damage or death in Israel, thanks to the Iron Dome antimissile system and ubiquitous government-mandated bomb shelters. But Israel experienced 900,000 cyberattacks over the 51-day campaign 鈥� nearly double the normal rate, .

While none of those attacks is known to have caused damage on the scale of the Target or Sony hacks in the US, these politically motivated cyberattacks 鈥� including many suspected to be coming from Iran 鈥� are what's spurring听Israel to strengthen its cyberdefenses.

Israel鈥檚 weak link

Avi Weissman saw a need for cyberdefense before anyone even called it that. Since he founded See Security Technologies Ltd. in 2002, it has become Israel鈥檚 premier college for information security and cyberwarfare, certifying more than 4,000 students in various aspects of the field.

He says that despite Israel鈥檚 reputation today as a cutting-edge cyberpower, it has lagged behind US and European progress in the more mundane area of management.

鈥淚f we鈥檙e talking about attack and intelligence, Israel is still one of the best countries in the world. If we're talking about start-ups and new ideas and visions, Israel is the visionaries鈥櫶齝ountry,鈥� says Mr. Weissman. 鈥淚f we talk about the second issue of cyber 鈥� which is not technical, it鈥檚 procedure, it鈥檚 discipline, it鈥檚 management 鈥� this is the weak point of Israel.鈥�

This week, the college opened its 32nd听course for computer information security officers, or CISOs. Nadav Nachmias, an information security consultant involved with the college, says that for security to work right it should come from the top down. But in Israel, when it comes to decisions about investing in cybersecurity, 鈥淚t鈥檚 [the CISO] against the top management and the entire organization.鈥�

鈥業t鈥檒l be OK鈥�

The Hebrew expression 鈥渋t鈥檒l be OK鈥� is practically a national motto in Israel, a country that has faced 鈥� and continues to endure 鈥� waves of attacks throughout its relatively short history as a country.听

That 鈥渋t鈥檒l be OK鈥� attitude may contribute to some apathy from top management, say experts, but it also reflects a certain national confidence.听Just as Israel has often turned the tables on its enemies in traditional warfare, so many are sure that it will be able to do the same in this more ethereal battlefield.

鈥淏y definition, it鈥檚 a cat and mouse game,鈥� Gadi Tirosh,听managing partner听at the Jerusalem venture capital firm JVP, said in a September interview after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed the听cyberdefense authority.听鈥淭here isn鈥檛 a single silver bullet that would shut down cyber forever. I think Israel over the years has showed that we鈥檙e very good at this cat and mouse game, to outsmart our enemies.鈥�

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