National Security Agency Head Makes Secret Visit to Israel

Admiral Michael Rogers, head of the United States National Security Agency, paid a secret visit to Israel last week for talks with senior security officials focusing on cyber security. He reportedly came to Israel at the invitation of the commander of Israel’s elite army cyber-unit, Intelligence Corps Unit 8200. Rogers has expertise in cyber-security and also is chief of the US Army’s Cyber Command. In Israel, the recently appointed army chief-of-staff is bringing all cyber-units together under a single umbrella. Both nations share concern over Iranian attempts to hack into financial and intelligence sources and the damage its proxies such as the Lebanon-based Hizbullah terrorist organization could cause through cyber warfare. Cooperation between the NSA and Israel’s Unit 8200 has been reported before, specifically in regard to cyber operations against Iran, in one case taking centrifuges out of operation.