IDF using ‘woman-power’ to increase its capabilities in cyberspace
The Israel Defense Forces is collaborating with the National Cyber Center to increase the level of training provided to female IDF soldiers who specialize in conducting operations in the cyber domain.
"I see girls in national service as important components, serving as spearheads on the front lines of the State of Israel's cyber warfare," Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen said during a visit to the Bnei Akiva Hadar Ganim Ulpan.
Israel made history in 1948, becoming the first country to draft females into the military. Since then, the IDF has led the way in many other areas and is considered a “Cyber Superpower” as well as both a contributor and a beneficiary of the hi-tech economy which has been built in the Jewish state.
Several veterans of the IDF Cyber Warfare department have gone on to found hi-tech companies and world-renowned software solutions such as Waze and Wix. Additionally, the world’s leading universities have sought to partner with their Israeli counterparts in the fields of cyber and hi-tech, in large part because of the input by graduates of the IDF’s cyber branches.
However, the main focus of those branches continues to be supporting the combined arms efforts of the IDF. This was on display recently during a military exercise, “Lethal Arrow,” in October and simulated a range of scenarios focused on the threat to Israel’s northern borders with Lebanon and Syria.
Thousands of soldiers from the IDF’s various land, sea and air branches participated in the drills, with cyber forces playing a key role in planning, coordinating and otherwise supporting the exercises.
“All of the headquarters and forces exercised new processes in order to improve the cooperation and coordination between the headquarters and the forces in the field and to strengthen the IDF's offensive capabilities,” the IDF said in a statement. “New planning and command and control monitoring abilities were incorporated by the Computer Service and Cyber Defense Directorate as part of the ‘Circle of Fire’ concept. The Electronic Warfare Section in the Cyber Defense Unit exercised providing new operational abilities to the forces in the field.”
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
