Israeli expert: 'cyberspace has become a battlefield'
In an interview with Al-Monitor, the head of the INSS Cyber Security Program, Gabi Siboni, states that after the recent hacking of Sony Pictures, Western countries should consider cyberattacks as a real threat to their sovereignty.
Col. Gabi Siboni (ret.) heads the Cyber Security Program at the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies. Considered one of the top experts in the field, Siboni publishes numerous studies and position papers on the issue on behalf of the institute. The most recent of these, published the week of Dec. 22, is devoted to the cyberwar between the United States and North Korea.
In April 2015, Siboni will chair the Institute’s first major conference for the Institute in Washington. The event is being held in cooperation with major American organizations (including the Cyber Security Forum Initiative), and with the participation of several senior American officials specializing in the field, including Ann Barron-DiCamillo, director of the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) at the Department of Homeland Security. Various Israeli officials will also be participating in the event, including representatives of the Computer Service Directorate of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the economy and energy ministries.
Cybersecurity in Israel is a highly developed field, considered to be among the most advanced in the world. The late Prime Minister Ariel Sharon recognized cybersecurity as a central component of national security as early as 2002, and established the Data Security Authority in the Shin Bet. Israel is also considered one of the most effective countries in the world in everything to do with defending its major facilities and institutions from cyberattacks. Recently, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu established an authority similar to the one founded by Sharon to focus on the defense of civilian installations. During Operation Protective Edge [July-August 2014], Israel came under serious attacks from hackers and various other groups in cyberspace, but the defensive systems in place withstood the challenge, and there was no significant damage.
In a special interview with Al-Monitor, Siboni talks about how we are standing on the threshold of a new era: the era of cyberwarfare. The text of the interview follows:
