(JNi.media) The term “arms race” should be familiar to anyone who lived during the Cold War era. There is a new kind of arms race that involves producing the most impenetrable virtual fortresses of cybersecurity to resist catastrophic threats.
Israeli drone maker and defense company Elbit is beefing up its cybersecurity division with fresh acquisitions and efforts to lure software engineers. Elbit is creating a startup culture within its offices to attract those who otherwise would go into high-tech. Ping pong tables, video games and a less regimented office culture can be seen in Elbit’s offices located in Tel Aviv, not far from the Israeli Defense Ministry. With devastating security breaches on the rise, many defense companies realize hacking is a form of warfare that requires the most aggressive systems to thwart attacks.
With high profile hacking scandals that rocked JPMorgan and retailers like Target, it is clear that the threat of obtaining the personal information of thousands of people or disrupting services can be an effective means for terrorists to create havoc and spread fear. In 2013, the director of the US National Intelligence, James Clapper, said cyberattacks posed the greatest threat to national security. Cyberattacks can affect anyone at any time and can cripple operations, including delivery of healthcare or police services, at every level of society.
Elbit has developed a cyber unit called Cyberbit, to keep up with the growing needs of the government cybersecurity market, expected to reach $134 billion worldwide by 2018. Cyberbit has a separate office from Elbit’s, in Ranaana, which provides data mining and surveillance services to governments and armed forces, and has a proprietary Cybershield system, which senses and thwarts cyberattacks.
In May, Elbit’s Cyberbit acquired Nice Systems’ Cyber and Intelligence division for $157.9 million. Cyberbit CEO Betzalel Machlis said the Nice acquisition provided capabilities that were complementary to Cyberbit’s, and would allow the company to provide clients with “end-to-end, market leading cyber solutions.”
Elbit and Cyberbit have a full portfolio of products and systems, including WiT, Wise Intelligence Technology, that can collect and process very large amounts of data.
CyberShield detects threats and responds to them by providing a comprehensive cyber defense solution.