On Jan. 16th, 2012, Isabel Kershner reported for the New York Times on the ongoing cyberwar in Israel. Check out the article for a better summary, but as a quick recap, Saudi and Israeli hackers have been going at it for the past week by leaking credit card numbers and defacing websites.
The article quoted Avi Weissman, Israeli chief executive of the Cyber Warfare College, as saying that Israel has a strong offensive capability, "but in terms of defense, we are a very small and pretty neglected country."
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On Jan. 16th, Yoav Zitun wrote for YNetNews on the ongoing cyberwar and Israeli efforts to protect critical infrastructure. According to the article, the Israelis protect their critical infrastructure through " a higher level of encryption and protection." Moreover, "strategic bodies are defined by the government and though each body is in charge of its own security, they are constantly monitored and guided by the Shin Bet, in an effort to thwart terror attacks – cyber and otherwise – and espionage attempts."
The article quoted several Israeli leaders who assured that Israeli critical infrastructure has not been compromised.
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On Jan. 16th, Yaakov Lappin reported for the Jerusalem Post on an interview with the Saudi hacker responsible for these cyberattacks, 0xOmar. The article quoted the hacker as saying "I want to harm Israel", "I'll keep . . . attacking and publishing everything related to military or credit cards of normal people", and generally ignoring Israeli threats of retaliation.
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On Jan. 17th, Haaretz released details on the cyberattacks on Israel. According to one cyber-expert, the cyberattacks have come from a bot-net composed of computers within Israel. What does that mean? Not that Israelis are attacking Israeli banks. Rather, "these recent attacks have been sophisticated . . . this isn't a strike by one computer in Saudi Arabia, it's thousands of computers around the world."
Does this indicate the presence of a nation-state? I don't know, but the article notes that Israeli officials blocked Saudi, Iranian, and Algerian IP addresses following the cyberattacks.
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Finally, E.D. Kain writes for Forbes on whether cyber-warfare is the next front in the Middle East conflict.
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I've got a bunch of sources here, but I saw a few recurring themes:
1) The Israelis are utilizing their legal authority to control critical infrastructure. I have never been able to find the explicit authority granting this power (if anyone knows where to find it, please let me know). The YNetNews article mentions how Shin Bet guides critical infrastructure in their cybersecurity efforts. Again, this might be a great model for US legislation.
2) Just how much does an effective offensive cyber-capability contribute to deterrence? Check out those quotes from the JPost. 0xOmar knows that the Israelis want to retaliate and knows that the Israelis have the ability to retaliate; he just doesn't care. In fact, he seems to relish that attention. Is this just teenage bravado? Or does the Israeli offensive cyber-capability have a limited deterrent effect for determined Arab hackers?
2) Might we finally see a cyberattack on critical infrastrucure? There have been plenty of articles regarding the possibility of the electric grid failing, SCADA systems failing, or water plants coming under cyberattack. However, I never thought that the prospects of such an attack were likely. A nation-state could attack critical infrastructure, but that could be construed as an act of war. It's much more likely that a terrorist organization would try a cyberattack on critical infrastrucure. Would someone like 0xOmar try it? Not to say that Israeli critical infrastructure is vulnerable to cyberattack (quite the opposite), but a determined hacker might find their way in. The Forbes article makes a great point: cyber-warfare could be an extension of the greater Middle Eastern conflict. If this cyberwar escalates, could the passions behind the Middle Eastern conflict drive a successful cyberattack on Israeli critical infrastructure?
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