Israel To Require Communication Companies To Upgrade Cybersecurity

Israel launched a new initiative on Monday to require communication companies to prepare and implement cyber defense plans. The plan, being spearheaded by the Communications Ministry and the Israel National Cyber Directorate (INCD), comes amid a significant surge of cyberattacks targeting Israeli websites and networks. “The communications market is the pipeline leading to the economy and the public. Therefore, a comprehensive regulation is required to raise the level of national readiness and safeguard the public interests,” Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel said in a joint statement issued by the ministry and the INCD. Gaby Portnoy, INCD director-general, added, “The joint initiative will take a step forward in the level of protection and will serve as a type of air defense system that provides an additional layer of protection for the entire Israeli economy.” The plans will include protecting communications networks and combining monitoring and control mechanisms that will allow establishing an up-to-date picture of cyber protection while ensuring privacy, data integrity, and service availability, the statement added. The required plans will also enable dealing with cyberattacks, through incident identification, inclusion, recovery, and periodic scans to identify cybersecurity vulnerabilities, the ministry and the INCD said.