Israel's Energy Minister Dr Yuval Stainitz speaking during the seventh
edition of the annual CyberTech Global forum in Tel Aviv on January 29,
2020. PHOTO | FAUSTINE NGILA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
IN TEL AVIV, ISRAEL
World
governments have been urged to collaborate with the private sector,
non-governmental bodies and professionals to achieve a holistic
ecosystem of global cyber monitoring and coordination.
Addressing
delegates during the seventh edition of the annual CyberTech Global
conference in Tel Aviv, global cyber security experts warned
multinationals and governments against going it alone in the fight
against cyber insecurity.
Hundreds of cyber security
companies from different countries camped at the Expo Center in Tel Aviv
from January 28 - 30, 2020 to showcase their innovations in thwarting
cybercrime during the international Cybertech Global 2020 conference.
The
event constitutes a unique meeting point for decision makers,
government officials, industry executives, entrepreneurs, major venture
capital funds, investors and researchers.
A
grand exhibition took place alongside the conference where hundreds of
prominent companies presented their newest developments in Cloud
Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Deep Learning, Blockchain and
Quantum Computing in blocking hacking attempts.
The conference also paid critical attention to
cyber threats on energy, as attackers devise more advanced tools to
control social life even as hyper-connectivity in a rapidly changing
technology space becomes inevitable.
Speaking
on behalf of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the forum,
Israel’s Minister of Energy Dr Yuval Steinitz stressed the need for
governments to use Artificial Intelligence to proactively prevent
nuclear terrorism.
“The near future
of cyber defence must use AI,” he said adding that more emphasis is
needed in protecting nuclear power stations all over the world.
“This
is because the calamities that can be caused by attacks on nuclear
reactors are beyond imagination. Rogue countries can create a lot of
havoc to other crucial systems like communication and transportation,”
he said.
He said if cyber criminals
manage to paralyse the systems in the energy sector such as solar power
stations, electricity transmission and water supply chains, it could be a
total disaster.
Having detected a
very sophisticated potential attack on power stations aimed at
controlling and vandalizing Israel’s energy systems few months ago, the
Energy ministry embarked on the construction of an energy cyber
laboratory in Beer Sheva, the cyber capital in the southern region of
the country.
Maj Gen (Res) Yiftah Ron
Tal, Chairman of the Board, Israel Electric Corporation, said attacks
are getting bigger and so is the necessity to defend against them.
Major
General (Res) Ron-Tal said the future of the energy sector lies within
decentralized smart power networks for better cyber security.
Predicting
that 80 percent of power consumption and retailing will be on a
blockchain by 2040, he underscored that any surface exposed to the sun
will be able to generate energy.
“Through
a decentralised system, every family will generate power for its needs
and sell the surplus in digital tokens to the electric corporation. They
will be both power consumers and retailers. Every home will own the
grid system,” he said.
He also
painted the picture of a future of energy where a multi-dimensional and
sectoral power system will connect all devices, and termed it the
‘Internet of Electricity (IoE).
“Through
an international peer-to-peer block chain platform, every power
consumer will be connected and payments will be made as tokens of the
Wattcoin cryptocurrency to give affordable power to 1 billion humans who
live without power in all five continents,” he exemplified.
Blockchain
technology has garnered a global popularity due its immutability,
decentralised, enhanced security, traceable and data protection
features.
However, he warned world
governments that technology alone is not enough, since the modern cyber
environment comes with existential threats, where 11,000 attacks per
second are launched against power systems.
“The
attack surface is endless. The border between Information Technology
(IT) and Operational Technology (OT) is not clear anymore. Older systems
are no longer unique. The world needs a real time collaboration in
threat intelligence,” he told delegates of the second largest cyber
forum outside the United States.
Director
General of the Israeli National Cyber Directorate Mr Yigal Unna
revealed that cyber insecurity is sixth on the index of the most
potential risks to human life.
“The
ecosystem has never been as complex and dangerous, but we have national
initiatives to guarantee cyber security such as the hotline number 119
which citizens can call whenever they feel insecure. We respond
immediately and keep monitoring cyber risk scores of attacks all over
the world,” he said.
While no cyber
defence mechanism can guarantee 100 percent of safety on the internet,
the Israel tops the world with 95 per cent of live cyber security,
according to Gartner.
More
than 540 Isreali IT companies specialise in cyber security,
contributing to 46 per cent of GDP in exports, according to Bloomberg.
The industry was born in the late ‘80s and has grown to be world’s
destination for security in the web.
The
Cybertech event, founded seven years ago in Israel by a a former
military journalist, Amir Rapaport, is considered the largest cyber
security event outside the United States.
Mr
Rapaport said the quick growth of the industry and the Cybertech event
shows that the cyber field is leading a historic revolution changing the
global economy and the entire human race.
"Israeli
companies have a major role in this revolution by developing new cyber
technologies. The new record of international delegations at Cybertech,
shows how the cyber revolution is happening," he said.
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