Israel’s ‘Cyber Dome’: Protecting its cyberspace against Iranian cyberattacks

The Israeli “Iron Dome” air defense system has been successful in intercepting thousands of rockets since its launch in 2011. However, to counter cyber attacks, especially from Iran, Israel is now developing a “cyberdome.” Aviram Atzaba, the head of international cooperation at the Israeli National Cybersecurity Directorate, describes this as a silent war that cannot be seen. The organization, based in Tel Aviv and reporting to the prime minister, is responsible for defending the information systems of the Israeli civil sector.

Since the war between Israel and Hamas began in the Gaza Strip, there has been a noticeable rise in cyberattacks by Iran and its supporters, including Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamist groups. Atzaba mentions that nearly 800 major attacks have been thwarted since the beginning of the conflict in October. A variety of targets have been attacked, including the Israeli army, civil infrastructure, government agencies, and even the computer systems of hospitals.

Israel has made efforts to develop a centralized system to protect its cyberspace, moving away from local, disconnected initiatives that were previously in place. Iran, on the other hand, began focusing on cyberwar mechanisms after significant events in its history, such as the post-election uprising in 2009 and the Stuxnet virus attack on its nuclear program in 2010. Iran has since developed a robust cyber strategy and become one of the most active states in this field.

Aviram Atzaba explains that Israel has been working on a proactive cyber defense system called the cyber dome to counter computer attacks