Israel Matzav

Israeli experts: 'We could handle Stuxnet'

Arutz Sheva interviewed several Israeli computer security experts. While the most interesting sentence in this excerpt might be the first one (Hmmm), they all are highly confident that Israel could handle a little worm like Stuxnet.

Israel National News spoke with several Israeli security experts, and each refused to comment – on the record or off – on whether or not Israel was involved in the attack. However, several were willing to say that it was unlikely that Israel would face a similar situation. “Security here is on a very high level,” Tal Hanan, CEO of Israeli security firm Demoman said. “The country has poured much money and effort into avoiding these kinds of attacks, and Israel's cyber-defenses are among the best in the world. We've become very good at cyber-defense – and offense,” Hanan added.

Many of Israel's cyber-defense capabilities were developed by the IDF, of course – but Israel's hi-tech industry has contributed as well. In a recent interview, Michal Blumenstyk, head of the Israel office of worldwide security giant RSA, said that not only governments, but also private individuals were under constant attack by hackers. The local office, formerly an independent company called Cyota that was bought out by RSA, specialized in cyber-security for banks and online financial institutions – developing rock-solid security that hackers find it almost impossible to break.

Those same tactics are being used by hackers to invade computer systems run by governments and armies – and Israel, of course, is a prime target. “We have no choice,”says Blumenstyk. “We have to be the best at this.”

The best indeed.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:19 PM