IDF Warns World of Iran’s Growing Cyber Threat

As Iran’s technological capabilities improve, the Israeli military is warning of the looming dangers posed by the Islamic Republic’s agents in cyberspace.

The head of Israel’s military command, control, computer, communications and intelligence (C4I) plus cyber division runs one of the most crucial forces in the IDF, one that works 24/7 to defend the country from all attacks through cyberspace.

At the Reuters Cyber Security Summit held in Tel Aviv recently,  the head of the C41 division stated outright that the IDF faces thousands of cyber attacks a day, many of which are orchestrated by Iran, with the help of proxies like the terrorist organization, Hezbollah.

Just five or six years ago, many of the attacks against IDF servers, and Israeli networks in general, were DDOS (denial of service) attacks, where hackers try by sheer quantity of Internet connections to slow or halt operations on systems. Another common tactic was phishing — deceitful attempts to obtain personal information. The threats today are much more sophisticated.

“They are not the state-of-the-art, they are not the strongest superpower in the cyber dimension, but they are getting better and better,” said.the division head

On the other hand, he also said that “Nobody has been able to penetrate our operational systems,” although he did qualify the statement with the words, “as far as we know.”

The C4I division was established in 2015, with the goal of bringing all units dealing with cyber threats under one roof, with a single command structure. It protects systems that control everything, from communications to Iron Dome rockets, all of which communicate with servers that remain hackers’ targets.

This would seem to point to C4I being essentially defensive in nature, it was made clear that responsibilities did not include offensive cyber tactics. However, it is commonly accepted that Israel, working secretly with the United States, developed the Stuxnet virus in 2010 that targeted machines controlling centrifuges in Iran that were being used to enrich uranium for Iran’s nuclear program.

INTEL - NEW ISRAELI CYBERSECURITY COLLABORATIONS

Our son in law works in Intel and our daughter's company provides services to Intel, so when Intel makes a major announcement, we sit up and take note. The area where both companies are located, Kiryat Gat is one of the main hubs for forward thinking and as reported by Sharon Udasin, Intel are now saying that :-  

“Our mission is to tackle the biggest problems in cybersecurity and give organizations the advantage over cyber attackers."

 Expanding its involvement in Israel’s growing cybersecurity sector, Intel on Wednesday announced new collaborations with two Tel Aviv-based firms.

The US chip giant will be partnering with Team8, a cybersecurity think tank that helps launch cyber start-ups and serves as a platform for research initiatives. In addition, Intel will be joining hands with Illusive Networks to develop a solution for combating advanced persistent threats – network attacks by unauthorized sources in which data is generally stolen – by harnessing hardware and software competencies simultaneously.

The Intel-Team8 collaboration will involve an exchange of information regarding cyber threats, with a goal of developing solutions that are able to respond to both current and future risks, the partners said. Run by veterans of the IDF’s 8200 intelligence unit, Team8 is a self-described “cyber powerhouse” that works together with innovators to help create disruptive, industry-leading cybersecurity companies.

“The collaboration is meant to help Intel develop cutting edge cyber technologies and products,” said Rick Echevarria, vice president of the software and services group and general manager of the platform security division at the Intel Corporation. “Team8 will be instrumental in helping us pinpoint the opportunities for Intel innovation to address the challenges in the cyber security segment.”

Intel will be joining current Team8 syndicate members – including Microsoft, Cisco, Qualcomm, AT&T, Citigroup, Accenture, Nokia, Temasek, Mitsui, Bessemer Venture Partners, Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors and Marker LLC – which work closely with Team8 during company creation processes.

“Our mission is to tackle the biggest problems in cybersecurity and give organizations the advantage over cyber attackers,” said Nadav Zafrir, cofounder and CEO of Team8. “Adding Intel to our syndicate is a critical extension that will give us a unique insight to the security challenges associated with the mobile, cloud and IoT revolutions.”

As far as the partnership with Illusive Networks is concerned, Intel and Illusive will be working to extend deception-based cybersecurity from software to hardware, by diverting attack commands from potential targets and frustrating further progress, the companies said. Real-time alerts will also provide customers with contextual forensics, in order to neutralize threats in their early stages, the firms added.

“Creating an innovative solution that combines both software and hardware demonstrates Illusive’s commitment to protect at every level of cyber defense,” said Ofer Israeli, CEO of Illusive Networks. “Attackers are innovating at a very rapid pace and this collaboration demonstrates Intel’s engagement to move beyond traditional security measures and effectively protect its customers against sophisticated adversaries.”

Also on Wednesday, Intel announced its intentions to expand its Israeli Cyber Security Center of Excellence, managed by serial cyber entrepreneur Jacob Mendel. At the center, Intel is employing a number of cybersecurity researchers who are developing advanced techniques to help the company harden its products against attacks, the company said.