Israel is a shining example of cybersecurity. Illustrative. By Joshua Spurlock
With a recent global cyberattack impacting hundreds of thousands of victims—which per a report from the BBC include the Russian Interior Ministry, German rail network Deutsche Bahn and British hospitals—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave Israel’s a clean bill of cyber health. As of Sunday morning, he said that “there have not been any attacks against our vital infrastructures. The other attacks have been minor so far, but everything could change.”
Noting the number of different nations impacted by the attack, which BBC has since updated to 150 countries, Netanyahu said that “several years ago we established a defense network against cyberattacks. We also had the foresight to establish the National Cyberdefense Authority based on the understanding that we yet face a new threat.” The Israeli example in the midst of the attack comes just days after Israeli representatives met with Germany to discuss cybersecurity.
The meeting, which took place on May 11, was an opportunity for both nations to share their approach to cybersecurity and discuss the issue more broadly.
A press release from the German Federal Foreign Office said the two delegations agreed that “in view of the diversity and intensity of the threats in cyberspace that our countries currently face, it is vitally important that we cooperate in the interests of our countries’ national security and, above all, with the protection of our critical infrastructures in mind.”
The press release said that Israel and Germany are “already liaising closely with regard to strengthening national and international cybersecurity” and also “identified further areas where we intend to intensify our bilateral cooperation.”
Germany should benefit from such an arrangement, as Israel isn’t stopping their forward momentum on cybersecurity, despite their success so far.
Said Netanyahu on Sunday, “There will yet be many developments and we will need to invest more resources in order to ensure that the State of Israel, vis-à-vis both its defense and civilian sectors, has the necessary defensive measures against this new type of threat.”
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, May 14, 2017)