Israel’s Exciting Innovations in Cyber Security
Israel’s Exciting Innovations in Cyber Security
April 7, 2015
By Kira Makagon
Serial Entrepreneur, Innovative Leader
For a couple of years now, tech industry press has been alluding to Israel’s Silicon Wadi as the next Silicon Valley.
Recently, I went on a 3-day cyber security mission to Israel, organized by Dr. Harry Saal, which included attending Israel’s cyber security conference CyberTech 2015.
I was able to experience first-hand the exciting innovation that is happening in Israel in the arena of cyber security. Security is a top concern for companies of all sizes. With the rise of cloud computing, ubiquitous application access, mobile, and BYOD trends, the arena of cyber security, which covers security vulnerabilities, fraud, and more, is growing significantly.
Perhaps it comes as no surprise that Israel, where there are also significant existential threats, is evolving as the world’s cyber security innovation hub. As IT World puts it, there are now as many cyber security start-ups in Beer-Sheva as there are Starbucks in Seattle!
We spent our first day at Ben-Gurion University, about which I have written before.
Cyber Security Mission participants with BGU President Prof. Rivka Carmi (center). Dr. Harry Saal, mission chair, is seated on the right.
I especially enjoyed touring BGU’s Cyber Security Research Center. BGU has become the hub of Israeli cyber security research and innovation and has contributed greatly to the establishment of CyberSpark, the Israeli Cyber Innovation Arena established with the National Cyber Bureau.
As part of the mission, I enjoyed meeting a number of local VCs investing heavily into security alongside a number of founders/startups, many of which are emerging out of the BGU cyber security labs. In addition, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is helping to turn Beer-Sheva, the city in the Negev desert where BGU campuses are located, into the country’s cyber capital.
The IDF’s elite telecommunications and intelligences units are being relocated to Beer-Sheva to leverage the University’s education and research environment while also fostering collaboration with the international corporate giants investing in the space. For example, the research these labs are doing is attracting widespread global interest, including from the U.S., China, Europe, and Australia. Major corporations such as IBM, Deutsche Telecomm, EMC, and PayPal are all establishing R&D centers in Beer-Sheva’s Advanced Technologies Park.
Our hosts at BGU included its president, Prof. Rivka Carmi, and its Cyber Security Research Center director, Prof. Yuval Elovici. Prof. Carmi is a real force of nature. Her vision for BGU as well as her enthusiasm, passion, and hard work have driven BGU to its position as a world-renowned academic institution and center for cyber security.
This trip was not the first time I’ve met Prof. Elovici, whose out-of-the-box thinking is unparalleled. Discussions with him about security risks emerging with the evolution of drones and the Internet of Things were eye-opening. All of us participating in the mission learned so much about different areas of security, innovative ways of attacking problems, and how the lab’s research teams work in collaboration with startups and other enterprises.
I remain in awe of the entrepreneurial spirit of the Israelis, who are working within geopolitical constraints and using those constraints to their advantage by becoming world leaders in cyber security.
Read Kira Makagon’s full blog post >>
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