Special to WorldTribune.com

TEL AVIV — Israel has overseen efforts to develop advanced
cyberwarfare capabilities.

The Defense Ministry has established a center to promote solutions to
counter cyber threats. The new cyber center was assigned to the ministry’s
Defense Development Directorate to coordinate efforts by Israeli companies.

“Our big challenge is the system,” Defense Ministry director-general Udi
Shani said.

Officials said Iran and other countries were targeting Israel’s computer
infrastructure. They said Israel’s military and government networks used such standard systems as Windows, deemed vulnerable to hacking and penetration.

Shani said the ministry decided not to develop cyberwarfare systems but
rather leave the task to the nation’s defense industry. He said the
technology was expected to be based on civilian software tools and could be financed through sales to Israel’s military, government and export clients.

“It’s made up of data storage and products that are totally civilian,
like laptops,” Shani said in an address to the Herzliya Conference in
mid-March 2013. “If we do this all in-house, we enter a new budget vector.”

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