Cyber Dome: Israel’s Iron Dome against digital warfare

Israel is currently at war with Palestine’s Hamas forces, both on the physical and digital battlefield. The recent conflict introduced its Iron Dome to the world, an automated missile defense system that prevents rockets from entering its capital, Tel Aviv. However, most aren’t familiar with the country’s bulwark against online attacks: the Cyber Dome.

Technology has always been changing the way humans wage large-scale conflicts. We’ve gone from throwing spears to shooting guns to firing missiles from unmanned vehicles. A new breed of soldiers has emerged who wield computers instead of firearms. Israel understands cybersecurity is national security, so the world should learn from it as an example.

This article will explain how Israel’s Cyber Dome works. Later, I will cover other modern warfare technologies, such as the country’s Fire Factory.

How does the Cyber Dome work?

Meet Cyber Dome: Israel's digital version of the infamous Iron Domehttps://t.co/1Es9XAg2rW

— Interesting Engineering (@IntEngineering) October 16, 2023

Namrata Biji Ahuja from The Week news website reported on Israel’s latest online security project. She said the Cyber Dome consists of men and women from the following groups:

• Intelligence Unit 8200
• J6 and Cyber Defense Directorate within the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)
• Cyber units of the spy agency Mossad and domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet
• Ministry of Defense

Gaby Portnoy, the director general of the Israel National Cyber Directorate, has been working with many to build and expand the Dome as a national and multinational strategy. “We call it the secret sauce,” he told Ahuja.

“While the orchestra (combined efforts of various departments) works outside, INCD does the internal work. We all work closely together. All the alerts we receive from the orchestra are used to improve our skills. We sit and talk together often,” Portnoy added.

“There has been a rapid cross-pollination between the military, academia, government, and private industry in cyberspace in the past couple of years,” said INCD executive director Erez Tidhar. The Israeli military’s stamp on the national cyber industry enables this collaboration.

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The Week says citizens enter compulsory military training at age 18, which lasts three years for boys and two for girls. However, children as young as 15 may join elite cyber forces like Unit 8200.

“So, every three years, a new generation comes into cyber defense once they complete military training,” said Tidhar. “And, officers retiring from the defense forces join the private cyber industry.”

As a result, this cycle has built a cyber ecosystem backed by some of the best personnel and technology in the world. That also explains how the IDF became among the first to use AI to beat threats. The Israeli Defence Forces have quietly created generative AI platforms similar to ChatGPT to pinpoint important threats.

What are other digital warfare projects?

Photo Credit: thenationalnews.com

Israel’s cyber experts have created other AI platforms like Fire Factory. It is an artificial intelligence that “calculates appropriate munition loads, prioritizes targets, assigns them to aircraft and drones, and proposes a schedule.”

In other words, it counts how many bullets and bombs an air strike requires for a specific location and date. Israeli military officials allegedly suggested using it in periodic conflicts in the Gaza Strip.

In 2021, the IDF reportedly called those engagements the world’s first “AI war.” Colonel Uri, head of the armed forces digital transformation unit, emphasized the benefits of AI.

“What used to take hours now takes minutes, with a few more minutes for human review. With the same amount of people, we do much more,” he said. Moreover, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett explained Fire Factory’s purpose to Fox News Digital.

“The future of defense systems and of the military will rely heavily on artificial intelligence. I’m talking about the analysis of massive data in intelligence,” Bennett stated.

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“I’m talking about operating drones and other types of automatic and autonomous robots. Any country who seeks to be strong has to develop now an AI strategy,” the former national leader added.

On the other side of the world, the United States has been testing its AI fighter jet, the VISTA-X62A, or the Variable In-flight Simulation Test Aircraft. Its VISTA Simulation System (VSS) allows it to mimic existing vehicles.

For example, it could soar like the F-16 fixed-wing fighter or the MQ-20 drone. As a result, the US Air Force can apply new AI systems to existing craft without risking them.

Conclusion

Israel understands cybersecurity is a critical part of national security. Online attackers can disrupt military and civilian infrastructure, endangering lives like conventional armed forces.

That is why the country launched its Cyber Dome, the digital equivalent of its Iron Dome defense system. One of its experts proudly stated, “We want to be attacked. Send us the trojans and malware.”

“It will help us prepare better. Not only will we prepare ourselves, we will tell the rest of the world how to do it,” he added. Learn more about the latest digital trends at Inquirer Tech.