IDF Builds New Command Center to Combat Cyber Threats

There is a war of global proportions playing out behind the scenes. The IDF’s Lotem unit is responsible for defending the IDF’s critical infrastructure from such attacks. In a special underground cyber operations room, they identify attacks, analyze risk, and work to prevent and mitigate the risks presented.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is expected to complete construction of a new cyber defense “command pit” in the coming weeks, as part of the military’s efforts to enhance its cyber capabilities and transition to becoming fully digitalized.

The announcement was made Wednesday by Brig. Gen. Danny Bren, commander of the Lotem (Telecommunications and Information Technology) unit of the IDF Teleprocessing Branch (or C4I Corps). The corps is responsible for all areas of teleprocessing and communications in the IDF.

“Israel is the only democratic country whose enemies wish to destroy it both physically and cybernetically, and they say so openly,” Bren, who is leaving his post next month after three and a half years in the role, told reporters in a briefing about teleprocessing and technology in the IDF.

“This is what we must contend with, simultaneous to defending against cybernetic terrorism and cyber threats that many other countries face,” said Bren. “The IDF is doing all it can to meet the challenges, physical and cybernetic, and the Teleprocessing Branch plays a significant role in that. The commanders have to understand the need to transition into the digital age and internalize that the age of compartmentalized branches [of the army] is over.”

On the consolidation of the military’s teleprocessing systems, Bren said that the IDF “is changing the way it is fighting—from monolithic thinking to digital thinking, led by the C4I Corps and Lotem, as the central operational body.”

Brig. Gen. Danny Bren, Head of the C4I Technology Division & the Head of the Cyber Defense Division. (IDF)

Research indicates that  millions of cyber attacks take place around the world every day.

The rapid spread of cyber capability has also led to a stark change in the form of attacks. Five years ago, most attacks were of a broad and indiscriminate nature, like the Conficker worm that was first discovered in 2008.

Today, attacks are designed with a clearly intended outcome. They are narrowly targeted, objective driven, stealthy, and created to intelligently determine the weakest links in IT systems.

The threat of cyber attacks will continue to increase. “We often do not take into account the negatives of technology,” Bren relates. “No matter what advances there will be in tech, there will always be people who will attempt to exploit them. It’s been a challenging year. We have constantly been under attack. When it comes to cyber, there is no silver bullet. The reality truly exceeds imagination. I never really know how my day will end.”