Could Cisco’s vision turn Israel into a zombie nest?

Cisco’s plan to turn Israel into the world’s “first digital country” might not be such a good idea, according to top US security expert Paul De Souza. In an interview with Bloomberg, De Souza said that the ambitious plan introduced last month by Cisco CEO John Chambers was missing an important component: security.

Failure to adequately secure the far-ranging network connections Chambers envision could make Israel not the world’s most digital country, but the world’s most hacked country, turning millions of devices into “zombies” for cyber-intruders to use as they please.

The plan Chambers introduced in June, when he was in Israel to attend the Presidential Conference, was indeed ambitious. Chambers envisions a “smart” Israel where everybody and everything is connected by a super-fast network that shares information and resources. That includes healthcare, with doctors connected instantly to HMO and hospital databases, and all records kept electronically and updated constantly; an education-anywhere system, where students can learn at home, in class, or in any other venue, communicating with teachers and fellow students wirelessly, without hiccups; safer roads and streets (a major issue in traffic accident-prone Israel), with authorities able to keep better tabs on speeders and unsafe drivers; and an explosion of “Internet of everything” technology, with sensors keeping air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, front doors, and more connected to a central server, allowing better and more efficient allocation of electricity and other resources.

In a few years, said Chambers, Israel will be a shining example of this to the world.

But De Souza wasn’t as optimistic. Along with the connectivity, he told Bloomberg, Cisco would need to ensure that cyber-security efforts kept pace. “You can’t compromise national security just because you want the country to be extremely innovative,” Bloomberg quoted De Souza as saying. “Imagine Israel with millions of zombies that have super capability and can bring down countries.”

It is perhaps with that in mind that Chambers, announcing the new connectivity project, also announced that Cisco would open a cyber-security incubator to work with companies that could produce better network and Internet defense technologies.

In addition, Cisco is building a network of consulting services for its security needs, and is recruiting 100 strategic workers in Israel, the company said. These experts will propose information security and services solutions from Israel for the entire international community, it added.

De Souza is well known in Israel, having spoken at numerous security conferences. He is the founder and president of CSFI (Cyber Security Forum Initiative), a nonprofit group that provides cyber-security awareness, guidance, and security solutions for the US government and private industry. For 14 years, he was also chief security engineer for AT&T.