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IDF Hackers Test Readiness In Israel For Cyberattacks

Posted by timothy on from the like-everywhere-else-but-different dept.

cold fjord points out a profile in Al-Monitor of Israel's cyber-defense group, formed to test the country's defenses to electronic warfare and information theft. Groups, really, since it's run blue-vs-red style, with constant scenario preparation and intrusion attempts. The two (anonymized) leaders of the Blue and Red teams talk about the mind-set and skills that it takes to be in their unit, which they point out is not the place for soda and pizza hijinks. Says "Capt. A": "We are constantly preparing for the next war or the next drill. And in between, we may have some fun dissecting the system and drawing conclusions together. The idea is to instruct the monitoring bodies, [and] to make them understand what they should look for and how to respond."

23 of 61 comments (clear)

  1. Balanced attack by govett · · Score: 2

    Offense and defense.

  2. In other words by fustakrakich · · Score: 2, Insightful

    They're spying on us again, not that they ever stopped. This isn't a 'drill'. It's thinly disguised espionage. But, since we're 'on the same side', it's all okay.

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    1. Re:In other words by gtall · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Jeezes, you have a depth of -1mm. Spying serves a very useful function. It prevents surprises. It was put to good use during the Cold War. The Soviet Union could see what the U.S. was doing and visa versa. It prevent stupid things from happening based on no information or false information. Who cares if Israel spies on the U.S. The U.S. spies on Israel. It helps both side calibrate their actions.

    2. Re:In other words by __aaltlg1547 · · Score: 2

      I'll take their word for it that they and every other sigint agency around the world ALSO do intrusion drills against their own systems to see how well they work at foiling external adversaries, such as China, Russia, France, Germany, Great Britain and the USA, and whether they can tell anything about what's hidden in the systems they can't penetrate or that they only THINK they have penetrated.

    3. Re:In other words by __aaltlg1547 · · Score: 1

      The U.S. government cares. Every government also has an interest in controlling what other governments know about what they are doing and thinking.

    4. Re:In other words by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      I don't give a damn what governments do to each other. They all bicker with each other, and we are in the crossfire. The problem is that governments conduct their espionage against the citizens. When I said us, I meant us.. This is the "cold war" we are living in now.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  3. Great. by Type44Q · · Score: 1

    cold fjord points out a profile

    Great, now even blatant shills are submitting content.

    1. Re:Great. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Although it is a great story, your comment seems to indicate that you may be suffering from NSA story fatigue. Maybe you will enjoy one of the other fine stories recently submitted by Cold Fjord instead of this one. Have fun!

      Without Plutonium, Deep-Space Probe Missions May Sputter Out
      Big Jump For Tablet Storage: Seagate Intros 5mm Hard Disk For Tablets
      New X Prize Quest: Sensors To Probe Oceanic Acid Levels
      Monster Storm Reveals Water On Saturn
      Open-Source Python Code Shows Lowest Defect Density
      First US Inpatient Treatment Program For Internet Addiction Opening In September
      Huge Canyon Discovered Under Greenland Ice
      Using Pulsars As GPS For Starships
      China Plans To Stop Harvesting Organs From Executed Prisoners
      Google Outage: Internet Traffic Plunges 40%

    2. Re:Great. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Cold Fjord, is that you?

  4. Re:Why So Serious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    I think you may want to comment on the actual article, rather than the summary. eg.

    Capt. A. notes, "The best way to break into a system is not by running head-on into it. Rather, the most sophisticated attacks, the ones that you can brag about, are those that take advantage of a hidden security hole. A few months ago, there was a wet exercise simulating a cyber attack. For several hours, we were hitting end-point nodes, trying to find a way to break in. Our intrusion attempts were seen by soldiers watching us across all army units.

    and

    However, it is the way of thinking and the personal knowledge that I deem most important. We seek to impart the value of creative thinking to all our soldiers. You have to constantly think of new ways to attack. That’s why we recruit young people with fresh and original thinking. At the end of the day, hacking is like any other knowledge. With time, one can become rather conservative and adopt a fixed way of thinking."

  5. great content from israel's #1 fan cold fjord by Rujiel · · Score: 2

    I guess when your country does things like create stuxnet, you could probably expect a repercussion or two, huh?

    1. Re: great content from israel's #1 fan cold fjord by Rujiel · · Score: 3, Informative

      Iran actually offered to pay the US to enrich its uranium so it wouldn't need to seek the ability. The US of course refused. Not to mention, some Iran's top nuclear scientists now were trained at MIT back when iran was In the US favor. But even if iran were seeking it as a weapon, I can play the "retaliation" card too: their nuclear program is payback for our selling Saddam gas and giving him the Intel to use it on Iranian soldiers.

    2. Re:great content from israel's #1 fan cold fjord by Uberbah · · Score: 1

      Correction: Stuxnet was the repercussion, it was Iran's nuclear program that was the provocation.

      Repeating Big Lies doesn't make them true, it just makes you a bigger liar. Because even the IDF and Pentagon will tell you Iran doesn't actually have the nuclear weapons program that both countries are threatening to bomb Iran for having.

      But even if Iran was pursuing nuclear weapons, that would be the "repercussion" for Israel's 200+ nuclear warheads.

    3. Re: great content from israel's #1 fan cold fjord by erikkemperman · · Score: 1

      You are deluding yourself if you believe that Iraq in the 80s or Egypt anywhere during the last couple decades would be able to do anything like what you suggest without US knowledge and support.

      There was a promising initiative by Turkey and Brazil toward a nuke free Middle East, but it was shot down by the USG because of course Israel can't be expected to do precisely what everyone is demanding of Iran.

      The US is in no position to wave the NPT in anyone's face seeing as they provide know how and materials to almost half of the non signatories..

      PS good to see you learned to post anonymously in your own submitted stories, cold fjord

      --
      Gosh, thanks. That must be why the other ships call me Meatfucker -- GCU Grey Area (Eccentric)
    4. Re: great content from israel's #1 fan cold fjord by erikkemperman · · Score: 1

      So you are blaming the US for a problem started by the Soviet Union, continued by Egypt, and made worse when the Egyptians spread chemical weapons to Iraq and Syria

      Are their other guily parties? Sure. All I was saying is that a military dictatorship such as the Egyptians used to suffer, which was completely dependent on US diplomatic and military support (and likely still is, since the latest military coup) would never dream of doing any dealings that would offend their, eh, benefactor. Besides, did you forget that the US were squarely on the Iraqi side of that whole Iraq-Iran debacle?

      Did Turkey and Brazil intended to do anything about the chemical weapons?

      No, because it was an initiative for a Middle East without nuclear weapons.

      Well, neither idea was going to go anywhere. Iraq wouldn't have bought in. Iran wouldn't have bought in either. There are probably other countries that wouldn't have bought in, such as Syria. .

      The Turkish/Brazilian initiative had Iran on board: see this for example. They did not need Iraq on board, though I think they might have been.

      Iran and Israel got along well until the Iranian Islamic revolution after which Iran decided to be Israel's enemy and threaten genocide.

      Iran and Israel got along fine as long as Iran was a Western backed brutal dictatorship. The fact that the revolution which ended that was an Islamic one was as predictable as it was unfortunate (in my opinion) -- for the Iranian people, that is, in the long run. When did Iran threaten genocide? Are you aware that one of the largest Jewish populations live in Iran, rather happily and unoppressed I might add? Please don't bring up that discredited mistranslation on the part of their previous leader (who is a nutjob, no argument there).

      There is little liklihood that the Turkish / Brazilian initiative would have gone anywhere.

      You got that right. But that's only because, shall we say, certain non-signatories of the Non-Profileration Treaty, made sure it was nipped in the bud, as it would actually impose restrictions on their nuclear facilities as well as the Iranians'.

      --
      Gosh, thanks. That must be why the other ships call me Meatfucker -- GCU Grey Area (Eccentric)
  6. Re:Neo Golden Logres by davester666 · · Score: 1

    Really?

    a large crystal occurring at the base of a snowpack
    or
    a fictional Faerûnian deity in Dungeons & Dragons

    --
    Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
  7. The US and israel cooperate more than anything by Rujiel · · Score: 2

    ..to spy on anyone, including US citizens, information about which the NSA has been caught read handed giving, wholesale and unredacted, to israel. You're ok with this? My, aren't you trusting.

    1. Re:The US and israel cooperate more than anything by __aaltlg1547 · · Score: 2

      The US government definitely DOES NOT trust Israel and most especially not its spy agency. Otherwise, why do you think Jonathan Pollard is in prison? Why was Lawrence Franklin charged with espionage?

    2. Re:The US and israel cooperate more than anything by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      Correction: The US government doesn't like it when spies catch them doing something that they shouldn't be doing. In which case they go after said spies. After all, when you know who the spy is, sometimes it's useful to just feed them a bit.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    3. Re:The US and israel cooperate more than anything by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      ...why do you think Jonathan Pollard is in prison?

      He was sloppy. He damn near exposed the operation.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  8. hello cold fjord. by Rujiel · · Score: 1

    I think you forgot to log into your main account. Either that or you expect us to believe that you have minions and fans at the ready to drop large lists of your propaganda threads, which is truly charming! You should bring your sock puppet Jeremiah cornelius into this, he's totally convincing.. just kidding.

  9. conspiracy theorists, no. by Rujiel · · Score: 2

    Mindless disinformation spam.. yes. Threads about the NSA or Israel are always full of distractionary anonymous shitposting. Ever wonder why?

  10. Re:Balanced attack: blue and red by Talderas · · Score: 1

    Being born in the purple was a great honor in Byzantium.

    --
    "Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork