Elbit Systems has decided to define the field of cyber warfare as one of its primary expansion goals for the coming years. Dozens of experts have already been recruited to the cyber department headed by Brigadier General (Res.) Yair Cohen, former commander of the central collection unit 8200 in the IDF’s intelligence branch.
“The cyber field completely blurs the distinctions between the classic defense field, the military-defense sector, and the civilian sector,” Cohen said during the Central Cyber Session in December 2011. The session was held in the framework of the Globes Israel Business Conference, sponsored by IsraelDefense and the Yuval Ne’eman Science, Technology, and Security Workshop at Tel-Aviv University.
“Even if we come from the incorrect assumption that Israel’s air force branch is completely sealed, it still needs to receive water and electricity from external sources, and if the Mekorot water company or the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) were to be stopped, it would affect them as well. You can unleash an unparalleled catastrophe upon a powerful country and military,” he said.
“In Brazil, there are constant attacks against the electric grid. There is a very high probability that these are cyber-attacks, which resulted in 60 million Brazilians being cut off from electricity in November 2009. I don’t want to think about what would happen in the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area in Israel if there was no electricity for two hours,” Cohen added.
In order to prevent such scenarios from happening in Israel, Elbit and the IEC are preparing for the construction of an extensive defense layout aimed at covering all of the company’s facilities and computer systems. The intent is to replicate this layout in the future and suit it for other large entities in Israel and around the world.
The IEC is considered one of Israel’s essential national infrastructure organizations, with dozens of sites across Israel. The company’s Chairman, Major General (Res.) Yiftach Ron Tal, even recently revealed that the company identified several cyber-attack attempts, which were unsuccessful.
Bernd Pulch 