Nonstop Cyber Attack - Israel Builds Hack-Proof Defense
Israel is the second most hacked country in the world. Here's what they're doing about it.
In 2013, Israel Electric Corp. registered several hundred potential hacks on its grid each hour. Last year, the figure grew to 20,000.
None succeeded. Israel Electric, which controls more than 80 percent of the country’s power production, has dramatically increased its cyber personnel, developed new defense tools and enhanced employee training, said Yosi Shneck, senior vice president of information and communications. The new protections reflect a nationwide effort to make Israel one of the most hack-proof countries in the world.
While attempted hack attacks on Israel reached 2 million a day during last year’s fighting in Gaza, the country has yet to report destructive events such as the theft of data from about 22 million people at the US Office of Personnel Management.
Hacking Call The threat is growing. Anonymous, a loosely connected global hacker collective, called in April for a hacking onslaught on the country. The Jewish state was the second most hacked country in the world after the US that month, according to monitoring website Hackmageddon.
Two Cables
Only two cables link Israel’s Internet network to the world, giving its companies an advantage on the digital battlefield, said Yaron Blachman, director of cyber and technology consulting at PricewaterhouseCoopers Israel. ‘‘They can just turn to their Internet service provider and disconnect,” he said.
Israel started building up its defenses more than a decade ago. In 2002, the government created the National Information Security Authority to protect critical infrastructure. In 2012 it established the National Cyber Bureau, an agency within the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that coordinates and advises on policy. The authority established this year will be responsible for protecting civilian entities such as banks, said Yitzhak Ben-Israel, who helped found it.
Flame Virus
Iran says Israel tried to sabotage its nuclear program with the Stuxnet virus. It also attributed the Flame virus, which wreaked havoc on Iranian computer systems in the energy sector, to “illegitimate regimes.” Israeli officials have declined to confirm or deny whether the country was involved.
Learning to fend off attacks can be profitable. Israel Electric formed a unit called CyberGym with security consulting firm CyberControl to offer companies around the world a simulated control center to practice protecting their networks.
Bank Protections
Attacks and attackers targeting the Israeli financial sector have increased and become more sophisticated, according to a May report by Cytegic and cyber consulting firm Konfidas. Lenders have largely been unsuccessful in reining them in, it said. The industry targeted most by hack attacks: information technology.
