Israel Defense Forces and National Cyber Defense

Abstract

Cybersecurity in and of itself is not particularly new. Contemporary opportunities to exploit vulnerabilities, however, make this a challenging field. It is only natural that rivals exploit newly created opportunities. Conflict, in which adversarial relationships have a cyber dimension, is here to stay. Accordingly, societies must devise an appropriate organization to protect themselves from intentional threats. This article surveys Israel's approach, outlining the origins and the evolution of the national cyber defense, prevailing threats, doctrinal challenges, and the role military services play in cyber defense.

Cyber scares and prophylactic policies: Crossnational evidence on the effect of cyberattacks on public support for surveillance

“…Debate about the potential risks posed by surveillance became particularly vigorous in the wake of the 2013 Snowden revelations that intelligence agencies in the US and UK had monitored and collected metadata on private phone calls, text messages, IP addresses, and cell phone locations, often collecting data on communications between citizens in the process (Landau, 2013). The documents revealed court orders requiring telecommunications companies to produce telephone records and provided evidence of the ‘Prism Program,’ whereby the NSA accessed data from major Internet and social media companies, ‘including Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo, to track online communication’ (Tabansky, 2020: 52). Although there were hints of mass surveillance as early as 2006, the 2013 Snowden revelations ‘resonated with the public,’ rendering these policies particularly salient and throwing their sustainability into question (Gallagher, 2018; Macaskill and Dance, 2013).…”

Cutting-Edge Warfare: The Cases of Russia, China and Israel

“…Israel's security doctrine is based on its small population compared to its adversaries, its lack of strategic depth, regional volatility, the long-Israel's standing Arab-Israeli conflict and self-reliance in defence. Its security strategy is in accordance with 4 principles: early warning, decisive battlefield victory, cumulative deterrence and defence of the rear "home front" (Tabansky, 2020). Israel is a country that fully comprehends the security environment and has tried -successfully-to be an innovator in the field.…”