Former CIA Director Gen. (Ret.) David H. Petraeus said Israel and the United States maintain an effective collaborative effort on cybersecurity that enables both sides to cope effectively with increasing international threats, including Iran’s nuclear program.
Speaking at CyberTech TLV 2018 at the Tel Aviv Convention Center, the world’s largest cybertech conference outside the United States featuring representatives of companies and governments from 80 countries, Petraeus said the effects of the cooperation can be felt far beyond published information.
Petraeus said he is most concerned about non-state actors that have the ability to take down the electrical infrastructures of entire countries. Data integrity is also a concern, he said – not, primarily, the theft and misuse of the data, but the altering of it to make fictional situations or information appear real.
“The technological developments are outrunning our strategic imagination”, Petraeus said. “It’s a huge challenge … simple legislation is not able to be quick enough in order to keep up with the rapid changes in the threat posture.”
According to data released by Start-Up Nation Central, an authoritative source on the Israeli innovation community, there are more than 300 active cyber security companies, including more than 150 founded since 2012, with annual exports of $3.5 billion. The local cybersecurity industry is second-largest in the world (trailing only the U.S.) and accounts for some 16 percent of overall cybersecurity investment worldwide.
“The presence of many investors in Israel, including my own presence is to receive the latest news at first hand. It is not just a startup nation, but a scale-up nation, due to impressive foundations that had been laid here by previous generations of the industry. Countries which have good cyber capabilities reach far beyond their size and abilities. Not just maritime, air and land. The huge arena is constantly advancing; the request for partners and allies is tremendous. Israel is a small country in all aspects, but it is a cyber superpower,” Petraeus said.
Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Nadav Zafrir, a former commander of IDF’s elite 8200 Cyber Defense Unit and current CEO of the Team8 cyber powerhouse, said that developing disruptive technologies and launching new cybersecurity companies is critical in order to outpace hackers.
“The threat has become much more imminent. One of the reasons is the world becoming much more connected, enhancing the hackers’ capacity. At Team8 we wish to find solutions that combine the background of an organization like the IDF and the attacker’s philosophy, trying to think like him. We look for the next crisis, for what will occur when different scenarios of technological advancement become a reality,” Zafrir said.