Shin Bet Chief: Israel Thwarts Hacking Attacks From All Over World

Israel has thwarted numerous foreign-originated cyber attacks in the past year, revealed the head of Israeli intelligence. 

By: Algemeiner Staff and United with Israel Staff

Israel has foiled numerous foreign-originated cyber attacks in the past year, Nadav Argaman — the head of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency — said on Tuesday.

In remarks given at the Cybertech 2018 TLV conference, Argaman declared, “The State of Israel is one of the leading cyber powers in the world.”

“We, as an organization, have very significant cyber capabilities,” Argaman noted. “Cyber is a main tool for us in our work of thwarting terrorism.”

Argaman said at the Cyber Week 2017 conference at Tel Aviv University in June that his agency and other Israeli intelligence agencies use technological capabilities to prevent terrorist attacks.

Dealing with Considerable Threats

“The Shin Bet is dealing with considerable threats, from terrorist organizations to individual hackers. In order to foil these threats, we have carried out dozens of sophisticated and successful operations. Still, given the deceptive nature of the cyber sphere, we have to remain wary about our ability to derive a hermetic picture of this arena,” he said.

Argaman added that potential terrorism has been greatly reduced due to breakthrough technological advances in cooperation with operational work on the ground.

The Shin Bet chief also stressed the importance of cross-organizational and international cooperation.

“In cyber, the name of the game is ‘jointness’ and it is the only way to go. We counter our adversaries through a ‘cyber coalition’ that includes cooperation with the IDF, the Mossad, the Cyber Bureau, the Defense Ministry etc., as well as with intelligence organizations around the world. We are ready and willing to assist and share the knowledge and expertise we have in dealing with the threat of terrorism that Western countries are now facing.”

Argaman warned that hostile hackers who consider attacking Israel, should expect surprises.

“We are not only defending, but also attacking hackers in the world,” he said. “Hackers who operate against Israel around the world find they experience unexpected problems.”

“We learn the patterns of activities of the enemy and know how to surprise him with counterattacks in many different ways,” he said.

Source: United with Israel