IDF Cyber Defense unit holds drill with US Cyber Command
Joint exercise this week included training for ‘a variety of cyber defense challenges,’ military says
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The Israeli military said Saturday that its Joint Cyber Defense Division (JCDD) and the United States Cyber Command held a joint exercise over the past week.
The drill included training for “a variety of cyber defense challenges,” the Israel Defense Forces said.
“This event demonstrates the strategic partnership between the two militaries, which allows both to achieve cyber network superiority,” the IDF added.
The JCDD is part of the army’s Cyber-Communications and Defense Division, a technological operational body that is in charge of providing the Israeli army and all of its systems with the defense it needs from cyberattacks.
The drill took place at a US Cyber Command facility in the United States, and is the sixth such joint exercise between the JCDD and the US Cyber Command, the military said.
“Cyberspace is changing and evolving into an everyday global combat space, that threatens to harm governmental, private and civilian bodies,” Maj. Gen. Lior Carmeli, the head of the Cyber Defense Directorate said.
Earlier this month, Israel led a 10-country, 10-day-long simulation of a major cyberattack on the world’s financial system by “sophisticated” players, with the goal of minimizing the damage to banks and financial markets.
The Finance Ministry led the scenario with help from the Foreign Ministry, and said the “war game” was the first of its kind.
The exercise simulated several scenarios, including sensitive data surfacing on the dark web alongside fake news, leading to global financial chaos.
Participants included representatives from the US, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Thailand, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
The simulation “featured several types of attacks that impacted global foreign exchange and bond markets, liquidity, integrity of data and transactions between importers and exporters,” Reuters reported at the time.
Israeli officials said international cooperation was the only way to counter the threat of major cyberattacks.
In October, the National Cyber Directorate issued a general warning to Israeli businesses to be aware of potential cyberattacks, as the country faced an uptick in hacking attempts.
This week, Israeli cybersecurity giant Check Point said that a hacking group identified with the Iranian regime was using a computer vulnerability called one of the worst ever seen to attack Israeli targets.
Governments and internet security experts have raised alarms over the flaw, known as Log4j, which lets internet-based attackers easily seize control of everything from industrial control systems to web servers and consumer electronics.
According to Tel Aviv-based Check Point, hacking group APT35, also known as Charming Kitten, attempted to use the exploit against seven Israeli targets from the business and government sectors on Tuesday and Wednesday.
APT35, which is thought to be linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, is known mainly for carrying out phishing attacks on journalists, activists, NGOs and others, with many of its efforts focused on Israel.
