The Cabinet on Sunday was briefed by Israel National Cyber Bureau head Dr. Eviatar Matania on the activity of the Bureau, which was established at the beginning of the year by decision of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

INCB head Dr. Matania briefed ministers on the main actions that have been carried out to advance the technology and the human capital in developing cybernetic capabilities, and presented the work being done with other sectors in the economy to strengthen cyber security, especially the growing links with the world’s leading countries in the field. “This is a broad threat to human society. While this is a challenge to the state, it is also an economic opportunity. The more we invest in academia and industry, the greater the return we will receive, from both economic and security perspectives,” Dr. Matania said.

National Economic Council Chairman Prof. Eugene Kandel added, “Cyber security is an excellent example of a field in which the Government can and must be involved in order to strengthen inter-ministerial cooperation and create a new growth engine for the economy.”

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu added, “Israel is a significant force in cyberspace. We are advancing, mainly on the problem of defending the modern state. Just as we developed the unprecedented Iron Dome system that successfully intercepts missiles, thus we are developing a kind of ‘digital Iron Dome’ in order to defend the country against attacks on our computer systems. The INCB is designed – first and foremost – to organize defensive capabilities based on cooperation between three elements – security capability, the business community and the academic world.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)