The cyber war against Israel has escalated: How much is it costing us?

Hundreds of senior Israeli industry executives, CEOs of companies and factories, and information security managers in companies participated in a conference to increase preparedness and cyber defense challenges, as part of Cyber Week in Industry led by the Israel Hi-Tech Association of the Manufacturers Association. As part of the conference, Gabi Portnoy, CEO of the National Cyber Defense Authority, referred in detail to the state of industry in Israel, the change in attitude since October 7 and demanded that the state intervene and create a "defensive cyber dome" in a conversation with Maariv.

What is the current state of the cyber field in Israel?

"The success rate of startups in Israel is 4%, that is, most of the companies that are established do not survive. So how do you get from a low success rate to an industry that sells in the amount of 13 billion dollars, which is ten percent of the world market? Because Israel is the size of a city in a major country in the world, and there is no choice but to export the technology."

"In the world there are about 500 unicorns from the cyber field, about 150 of which are Israeli companies. Israel is a significant player in the international arena, but we must not be silent about the yeast because this technology ran at the speed of light. Even for those who deal with it on a daily basis it is very difficult to keep up with the latest technology Portnoy noted.

How did the war affect the cyber field?

"The war is changing its face in the face of the current reality. Hamas gathered cyber intelligence in a very intimate way, much of the intelligence came from our cameras in the houses, from the cameras of the municipalities, from the social networks of soldiers. The number of attacks since October 7 has tripled." 

How are Iran's cyber capabilities manifested?

"Iran is another prominent front that we are dealing with. Until October 6, Iran did not attack hospitals at all. Since then we have seen many attacks, not necessarily sophisticated, but ones that do the job. Only if we are better prepared will we be able to prevent the Iranian attacks." 

What is the solution?

"I want us to create layers of defense like in missile defense, to come and create the state defense layer, our cyber dome, and for that we need the state. It is important to understand that cyber attacks have economic consequences that are estimated at about NIS 12 billion in damage per year from cyber attacks, and this is only getting stronger in orders of magnitude".

The Cyber Defense Readiness and Challenges Conference, led by the Israel High-Tech Association as part of the Cyberweek event, emphasized the importance of integrating cyber risk management in all areas of industry, while understanding the complexity and challenges facing Israeli industry in a variety of areas.