It’s no secret that
the newest cyber-security and
cyber-defense software is being coded in Israel.
By Viva Shara Press, Israel21c
In fact, in early
2014, multinational players IBM, Cisco, EMC, Lockheed Martin RSA and Deutsche
Telekom all announced plans to set up cyber-research facilities in
CyberSpark, Israel’s new cyber-security technology park in Beersheva.
Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu revealed the establishment of the new national cyber complex
in the Negev city at the Cybertech conference in Tel Aviv – where
some 450 heads of industry and cyber-security agencies from across the globe
came to see an expo of Israeli security companies and startups.
Two years after the
founding of the Israel National Cyber Bureau (INCB), Netanyahu predicted that
Beersheva would “not only be the cyber capital of Israel but one of the most
important places in the cyber security field in the world.”
“Just looking at the
innovation that Israel has generated over the past several years especially in
cyber security, it’s a growing area of focus and we want to be part of that,”
Verizon infrastructure protection executive Sean Paul McGurk tells ISRAEL21c,
explaining why he made the trip to Tel Aviv..
The number of Israeli
cyber-defense companies has ballooned from a few dozen to some 220 in the last
few years, according to the Tel Aviv-based IVC Research Center. That’s about
five to 10 percent of the global $60 billion to $80 billion annual
cyber-security market, says INCB Director Eviatar Matania.
Two other noteworthy
facts: 78 Israeli cyber-security companies have raised $400 million since 2010;
and about 20 multinational companies now operate online-security development
centers in Israel (half of which were established since 2011).
“Cyber is the big
engine for the Israeli market,” Theta-Ray VP R&D Ronen Lago tells
ISRAEL21c. “We have the creativity to find out the new technologies.”
“The most interesting
thing happening right now is not sharing of historical information of attacks
but actually coming up with technology that predicts the new type of attack
according to proactive security,” Gadi Tirosh, a general manager at Jerusalem
Venture Partners (JVP), tells ISRAEL21c. “It’s not just defending attacks of
the past but actually predicting the attacks of the future.”
A look around at the
conference gave a sense of that activity in action. There were over 75 startups
showing off the next must-have technologies.
“What we’re seeing in
the cyber-security market over the last two to three years is a shift of a
completely new set of attacks. It’s not carpet-bombing attacks that we’ve seen
in the past, but missile attacks, tailor-made attacks that are made to hit a
particular organization, group or in some cases individuals. To deal with this
kind of attack, you need a completely new set of technologies, and that’s what
all these startups are striving [for],” Tirosh says.
“One of the best parts of the conference was
the innovation center of the new startup companies, because you’re seeing a lot
of technology being brought to market in rapid fashion,” says McGurk, who
discovered Israel’s “incredibly innovative” cyber-security approaches when he
was at the US Department of Homeland Security before joining Verizon.
“Israel is a crucible
for creating that capability, and it’s something we want to be part of.”
Global players in
Israeli cyber security
With hack attacks
aimed at Israeli institutions every day, the country has had no choice but to
step up to the plate and revolutionize the field of cyber security.
As Netanyahu told
conference attendees in Tel Aviv in January: “The combination of military or
security requirements, research institutions, small space, culture and the
survival imperative have produced this special mix that makes Israel an
outstanding society that produces outstanding capabilities in the field of
cyber.”
Netanyahu and INCB’s
Matania encouraged outsiders to collaborate with, and invest in, the country’s
growing cyber-defense industry.
“Cyber doesn’t carry a
passport,” McGurk says. “So you can be anywhere in the world and have an impact
in a cyber domain. It’s really important to work collaboratively — not only
governments but also industries across the board to reach solutions necessary
to protect the networks.”
IBM in the Negev and
Tel Aviv
IBM is working with
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev to establish a Center of Excellence for
Security and Protection of Infrastructure and Assets.
“Our ongoing
investments and rich history of patent leadership is helping our clients secure
and protect their infrastructure and data in today’s new era of big data and
cloud computing,” said Steve Mills, senior vice present and group executive,
IBM Software & Systems. “Our partnership with Ben-Gurion University will
help extend innovation not only in Israel but around the world.”
In 2013, IBM acquired Israeli cybersecurity firm Trusteer and
inaugurated the IBM Cybersecurity Software Lab in Tel Aviv. Here, more than 200
Trusteer and IBM researchers and developers focus on mobile and application
security, advanced threat and malware, counter-fraud and financial crimes.
Similarly, Cisco
Systems — one of the most active multinational tech companies in Israel — will
invest $60 million in Israeli venture capital fund JVP’s $120 million cyber
security fund.
“Cisco CEO John
Chambers is personally committed to making Israel the first digital country. We
are working closely with the government and we are very excited about the work
we are doing across education and health and cyber,” Bryan Palma, Cisco senior
vice president of security services, toldHaaretz.
In his interview with
the Israeli daily, Palma said IBM is hiring talented Israeli security
consultants and is working with the government and startups to create a
cyber-security technology lab through a strategic investment made with JVP.
JVP’s Tirosh tells
ISRAEL21c that foreign companies “are putting money into Israel because they
recognize the talent here and they recognize that this is where cyber
innovation is happening. The Cyber Tech conference itself was amazing evidence
of how much interest this country is drawing for cyber security and cyber
defense.”