Intel Chief: Hundreds of Cyber Attacks Hit Israel Last Year

Israeli organizations were struck by hundreds of cyber-attacks in the past year, while dozens of those attacks targeted Israeli defense institutions, Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, director of Military Intelligence, said on Wednesday.

Speaking at the seventh annual conference of the Institute for National Security Studies, Kochavi said that the attacks were unsuccessful. He also said that cyber warfare and the threats it poses will develop substantially in the coming years. "This is a new dimension that we are far from investigating and understanding it all," said Kochavi. "Cyber in my modest opinion will soon be revealed to be the biggest revolution [in warfare], more than gunpowder and the utilization of air power in the past century." The intelligence chief added that the potential to operate in the cyber area was almost limitless.

Kochavi addressed recent strategic developments in the Middle East as well. He said that the amount of missiles and rockets that could strike Israel numbered 170,000 – some 30,000 less than the figure presented in recent years. The intelligence chief said that the reduced missile threat was due to the Assad regime's use of missiles in Syria's civil war and actions taken by the Israel Defense Forces in Operation Pillar of Defense in Gaza in 2012.

The intelligence also warned that although the Iranian nuclear program had been slowed down, it was still moving forward. It remained to be seen, he said, if the international powers' efforts to reach an agreement with Iran would lead to effective steps to halt the program.

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Benny Gantz also addressed the issue of cyber warfare at the conference, saying Israel needed to increase its vigilance on that matter.

Cybersecurity is a playing field that we need to use to the full, and I think that the State of Israel can and should do much more than it has been doing until now, he said, adding that Israel must be at the level of a superpower, and it can be at the level of a superpower.

Gantz said Israel must make sure there are enough national resources dedicated to cybersecurity, which he described as vital in the extreme. We cannot wait with it, he said.