Prime minister appoints new cybersecurity chief
Yigal Unna will head the National Cyber Directorate, which will incorporate two newly merged entities that protect Israel’s cyberspace
Shoshanna Solomon was The Times of Israel's Startups and Business reporter
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed Yigal Unna to head Israel’s National Cyber Directorate at the Prime Minister’s Office. The appointment will require government approval.
Unna, 46, currently heads the cyber technology unit at the National Cyber Directorate, which he joined in June 2017. He previously served as the head of the Signal Intelligence (Signit) Cyber Division in the Shin Bet domestic security agency between 2014 and 2017.
“Yigal Unna has extensive experience in all areas of cyberspace and the various cyber units in the defense establishment,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “I am convinced that he will bring his rich experience to continue building the cyber network and to successfully cope with complex security challenges.”
The appointment of Unna comes after the government in December decided to merge Israel’s two cybersecurity units — the National Cyber Bureau and the National Cyber Security Authority — into one unit that will be responsible for all aspects of cyber defense in the civilian sphere, from formulating policy to building technological power to cyber defense, the statement said.
The National Cyber Bureau was established in 2012 and was responsible for leading the strategy, national policy, and the technological buildup of Israeli cyberspace; the National Cyber Security Authority was established in 2016 as the central operational body for the defense of the cyber network in Israel, what was supposed to operate alongside the national cyber bureau.