Former Israeli intelligence officer accuses world governments of “sleeping” in face of threat of cyber-terrorism after latest attack.
By Gary Willig – Arutz Sheva
Brigadier General (res) Eli Ben Muir, a former high-ranking official in Israel’s Military Intelligence and the Chief Strategy Officer and co-founder of the cyber-security organization CyGov, slammed Western governments for failing to take the threat of cyber-warfare seriously in an OP ED for Fox News.
Gen. Ben Muir compared the current complacency towards cyber-attacks to the complacency of US and intelligence organizations prior to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. “It took two planes and thousands of murdered Americans for world governments to realize that the fight against terror involves cooperation and intelligence sharing.”
“9/11 was the wake-up call for governments to centralize their efforts, and take a holistic and eventually strategic view of the inter-agency and multi-disciplinary fight against terrorism.
Ben Muir accused world governments of “snoozing” once again as cyber-threats continue to rise.
He noted that the massive cyber-attack which affected countries across eastern Europe this week could have been mitigated, because “a technical patch after [previous cyber-attack] WannaCry was available to companies and institutions, but was clearly not adopted widely enough.”
The general expressed hope that after the latest cuber-attack, “governments will realize that cyber warfare is here to stay and it is only going to become more intense and dangerous. Perhaps governments will realize that now is the time to develop an effective, comprehensive and long-lasting response.”
He also said that intelligence agencies have to develop new rules for dealing with cyber-threats. “Cyber terrorists don’t respect borders, they don’t play by the rules of the game, so why should we? You don’t arrest a bank robber with your eyes blindfolded and your hands tied behind your back.”
Ben Muir compared the rest of the world’s approach to cyber-terrorism to Israel’s approach. According to him, Israel has been forced to take the cyber-threat more seriously because it has many enemies and the threats are more immediate. Israel has therefore adopted a “centralized, strategic problem-solving mentality,” which it fused with “the most advanced technologies, to identify, prevent and protect against cyber enemies.”
He said that Israel was willing to share its expertise in cyber-defense with the rest of the world. “This expertise is no secret, it is at the disposal of world leaders. It could prove invaluable if we are to win what is unquestionably an international conflict. Regional and international cooperation between centralized agencies holds the keys to unlock the crucial cyber solutions we so evidently need.”