‘We Have To Learn How Malicious Bad Actors Think,’ Expert Tells The Media Line
Experts discuss the rise in cyberattacks and the spread of AI-generated fake news during Cyber Week at Tel Aviv University
As Israel has entered its ninth month of war with Hamas, both Cyber and AI have been developed for offensive and defensive purposes in the past months to enhance technology investments as well as breach security barriers.
Cyber Week 2024 was held June 24-27, and AI Week June 26-27, at Tel Aviv University to discuss Israel’s challenges amid the war in cyberspace, the current threats related to AI’s use, and the country’s failures in fighting fake news online.
In the first months following October 7, the number of cyberattacks against Israel was 2.5 times higher than in previous years, with a total of 3,380 incidents recorded, 800 of which had “significant potential for damage,” according to the National Cyber Directorate’s annual report for 2023.
Iran has a very complex cyberattack capability, and we must be concerned about it
Ira Winkler, field CISO and vice president of the prominent cybersecurity firm CYE, spoke to The Media Line about our enemies’ capabilities. “Iran has a very complex cyberattack capability, and we must be concerned about it—not only for its own immediate purposes but for supporting the terrorism it sponsors as well. Russia is doing the same thing against Ukraine. In fact, those who support Israel and Ukraine, such as the United States, are currently victims of constant attacks.”
Furthermore, since October 7, Iran and its proxies created many AI-generated fake images to be spread on social media, causing extensive disinformation and confusion regarding the truthfulness of the events unfolding in Gaza.
“North Korea, Iran, Russia, and China are using generative AI for malicious purposes,” declared Keren Elazari, an analyst, author and researcher at the Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center at Tel Aviv University. “TikTok and Telegram are clearly their most used tools to spread misinformation and made-up content. As ‘friendly hackers’ we must get into the bad hacker’s mindset and combat fake news, antisemitism online and terrorist activities with AI as a defensive tool,” she explained.
AI is … a double-edged sword because it helps us to defend but it also helps attackers to attack
Shira Lev Ami, CEO of Israel National Digital Agency, agreed that “AI is everywhere. … It’s a double-edged sword because it helps us to defend but it also helps attackers to attack and scale their attacks. As cybersecurity experts, we use this tool to protect companies and data and to help us do our job faster, but it is used in the same ways to cause attacks against us. ‘Bad hackers’ know how to scale their attacks properly.”
Shlomit Wagman, chief regulatory compliance officer at Rapyd and former chair of the Israel Financial Crime Authority, explained that synthetic content is very appealing for terrorist organizations to use. “They produce videos and images which can destabilize the public and create chaos, for example by falsifying a video of a president expressing certain statements against another country. As law enforcement agencies, we monitor their tracks and follow their network of money to its sources. The funding doesn’t come directly from Iran, despite its being the sponsor, but from a variety of remote economies worldwide. AI helps us to find these people. Following their activities online also helps to prevent terrorist attacks in real life.”
“Bad actors can influence even the results of local elections,” warned Jony Fischbein, global CISO of Check Point Software. “Their accounts can quickly move money from one financial organization to another. We try to stop these threats every day.”
Winkler commented on the common belief that Israel has lost the media war in the past months, while Hamas has gained support worldwide. “Israel has huge resources but demonstrates no understanding of propaganda to defend itself. Hamas delivered an incredible public relations message online. The pro-Palestinian protests are shown everywhere on social media, but the counterprotests, which are often bigger, do not emerge. This creates illusions that people believe in.”
Generally speaking, we have succeeded in the cyber dimension, but we have yet to take care of the manipulation of public opinion
“Generally speaking, we have succeeded in the cyber dimension, but we have yet to take care of the manipulation of public opinion. Fake news deceived many people and distorted reality. We must implement new algorithms to debunk this fake content.”, said Maj. Gen. (ret.) Prof. Isaac Ben-Israel, chairman of Cyber-AI Week and former chairman of the Israel Space Agency.
A further issue with AI has been controversy over using it to identify bombing targets. Civilians appear to have been targeted in largely populated areas, despite techniques of face recognition and precise algorithms. So while technology changes the speed or scale of military action, accuracy in the targeting process depends on human actions.
Still, protecting the country demands expert use of AI. “Israel has used AI during the war in Gaza and may use it too against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon,” observed Asaf Levy, CEO of the Israeli cybersecurity startup Redrok. “We must be afraid of Hezbollah right now because they are not only an equipped army but own cybersecurity programs, given them by Iran, that target Israeli companies. In the upcoming months, they will try to play with electricity, water companies, and businesses. AI will be their tool to try to act faster than we do.”
Giorgia Valente is a recent graduate of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and an intern in The Media Line’s Press and Policy Student Program.
