Yigal Unna, Director General of the Israel National Cyber Directorate
during the Cybertech Global Conference in Tel Aviv. PHOTO | FAUSTINE
NGILA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
The seventh annual Cybertech Global
Conference has drawn critical attention to the shock waves of
cyberthreats on energy, as attackers devise more advanced tools to
control social life even as hyperconnectivity in a rapidly changing
technology space becomes inevitable.
Speaking
on behalf of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the forum,
Israel’s Minister of Energy Yuval Steinitz stressed the need for
governments to use artificial intelligence (AI) to proactively prevent
nuclear terrorism.
The
near future of cyberdefence must use AI because the field is already
very complicated,” 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. Countries like Iraq can create a lot of
havoc to other crucial systems like communication and transportation,”
he highlighted.
Accentuating
the sensitivity of the energy sector in Israel and the world, he
expounded that if cybercriminals 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 that
aimed at controlling and vandalising Israel’s energy systems a few
months ago, the energy ministry embarked on building an energy
cyber-laboratory in Beer Sheva, the cyber-capital in the southern region
of the “Start-up Nation”.
POWER NETWORKS
Yiftah
Ron-Tal, chairperson of the Israel Electric Corporation board, said the
future of the energy sector lies within decentralised smart power
networks for better cybersecurity.
Predicting
that 80 per cent 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 both power consumers, producers and retailers. Every home will own
the grid system,” he remarked.
Maj-Gen
Ron-Tal also painted the picture of a future of energy where a
multidimensional and sectoral power system will connect all devices, and
termed it the Internet of Electricity (IoE).
“Through
an international peer-to-peer blockchain platform, every power consumer
will be connected and payments will be made as tokens of the Wattcoin
cryptocurrency to give affordable power to one billion humans who live
without power in all five continents,” he exemplified.
BLOCKCHAIN
Blockchain
technology has garnered 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 real-time collaboration in threat
intelligence,” he told delegates of the second largest cyber-forum
outside the United States.
The
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 cybersecurity 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.
ISRAELI INDUSTRY
While
no cyberdefence mechanism can guarantee 100 per cent safety on the
internet, Israel tops the world with 95 per cent of live cybersecurity,
according to Gartner.
More
than 540 Israeli IT companies specialise in cybersecurity, 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 the world’s
destination for security on the web, cloud, IoT, air and sea.
The
forum, founded seven years ago by veteran military correspondent Amir
Rapaport, who doubles as the editor-in-chief of Cybertech and Israel
Defense, attracts over 2.5 million visitors ever year from around the
world. Mr Rapaport was a journalist for Israeli publications Maariv and
Yediot Achronot.
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