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Background
The development of computers over the last fifty years and their penetration into all aspects of our lives have brought, along with a tremendous growth of efficiency, also a weak point. Modern society, computerized to the hilt, has become dependent on computers and is vulnerable to disruptions to their functioning.

The cyber threat, which has earned itself a place in the international consciousness in the last decade, demands special preparations on a state level. These preparations must be made in the security field, as well as the others fields including academia. The cyber dimension penetrates all aspects of our lives, and understanding this requires a mastery of not only the natural disciplines – such as computer sciences, mathematics and engineering – but also of social and legal aspects, and even business and philosophy.

ICRC
The Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center (ICRC) was established at the Tel Aviv University as a joint initiative with the National Cyber Bureau, Prime Minister's Office.

The Center is based on researchers from Tel-Aviv university and emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary research. Currently, there are 50 faculty members and over 200 cyber researchers from different faculties such as Exact Sciences, Computer Sciences, Law, Engineering, Social Sciences, Management and Humanities.

The Center aims to become a leading international body in its field and to increase the academic efforts and awareness in the field of cyber security.

Research topics at the Center include key issues such as security software, attacks on hardware and software, cryptography, network protocols, security of operating systems, and networks as well as interdisciplinary research such as the impact on national security, the impact on society, regulation, and the effects on the business sector.

The Center operates a research fund which is supported by the Israeli National Cyber Bureau, Prime Minister's Office.

Visit the ICRC website here

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The Yuval Ne'eman Workshop for Science, Technology and Security was launched in 2002 by Major-General (Res.) Prof. Isaac Ben-Israel in conjunction with the Harold Hartog School of Policy and Government and the Security Studies Program at Tel Aviv University. The Workshop was founded with the clear directive of exploring the links between science, technology and security. The Workshop conducts a broad range of research activities that include the publication of research papers and policy reports in the field of national security strategy & policy. Alongside its research activities, the Workshop also holds a senior executive forum that promotes public-private partnerships and initiatives and a popular series of monthly conferences at Tel Aviv University with the participation of senior IDF staff and security organization members, politicians, academia, and executives from leading Israeli and International companies. The goal of the Workshops' activities is to create an open and fruitful dialogue with the general public in the fields of interest of the Workshop: Cyber Security, Space and Emerging Issues of National Security.

Other topics covered by the Workshop include; international relations and strategy, missiles and guided weapons, robotics, the interplay between society and security, nuclear energy, homeland security, force build-up policy, government decision-making processes, and more. So far, the Workshop has held more than 90 conferences, each attended by hundreds of delegates. The crown jewel of the Workshops' conferences is the Annual International Cyber Security Conference. This conference is held every summer since 2011 and enjoys the participation of senior politicians, foreign diplomats, academics, senior representatives of the IDF and other Israeli security services, and cyber security experts from around the world.

Cyber Security:
The Yuval Ne'eman Workshop has been leading research and initiatives in the cyber security field for more than a decade and aims to find security solutions to help protect cyberspace from the rising threats. As we make progress as a society, our cyber abilities advance. The many possibilities the cyber space offers are unfortunately perceived to our enemies as vulnerabilities, and so - with every passing day, we witness evolving cyber threats and targeted attacks on critical infrastructures, with new forms of hacktivism and the growing danger of cybercrime creating a complicated threat landscape to nations worldwide.
Therefore, The Yuval Ne'eman Workshop has set as a goal for itself to advance awareness of cyber security issues and the unique challenges that this emerging field of conflict presents to countries. The cyber domain, including the internet and social networks, has brought forward many opportunities and challenges, along with new legal, ethical, and social dilemmas. These challenges and dilemmas are particularly relevant to politics, public policy and international relations as a result of their critical influence on the use of force. Thus, it is necessary to give these issues due consideration and seek effective methods of action, cooperation, international agreements, and more. In 2010, as part of decision to streamline and coordinate the allocation of national resources towards cyber security, the Prime Minister of Israel has set up the National Cyber Initiative Task force with Prof. Ben Israel as its' head and members of the Workshop coordinated the work of the task force. The Task forces' recommendations were accepted by the Prime Minister, and were approved in a government decision. As a result, the government voted to establish a National Cyber Directorate (NCD) to coordinate national cyber security activities, and to formulate cyber security policy.

Bureau

Mission of the Bureau
The Bureau functions as an advising body for the Prime Minister, the government and its committees, which recommends national policy in the cyber field and promotes its implementation, in accordance with the law and government resolutions.
The Bureau works to promote the national capability in cyberspace and to improve Israel's preparedness in dealing with the current and future challenges in cyberspace.
It is charged with improving the defense of national infrastructures critical to the continuation of normal life in the State of Israel and to protect them, as much as possible, from cyber attack, while advancing Israel's position as a center of information technology development, and at the same time encouraging cooperation between academia, industry and the private sector, government offices and the security community.

The Bureau is charged with promoting three central areas in the cyber field in Israel:
    1. Advancing defense and building national strength in the cyber field.
    2. Building up Israel's lead in the cyber field .
    3. Advancing processes that support the first two tasks.

Bureau's activities
Alongside forming the Bureau and establishing it, which is a considerable task on its own, last year the Bureau promoted many significant activities in various fields in cooperation with industry, academia and the governmental sector. Several of them are listed below:

In the field of cyber defense:

Working to formulate a national defense strategy and is beginning to build the way in which it will be implemented in cooperation with the relevant bodies.
Establishing a national cyber situation room, in the Bureau, which is tasked with forming the national cyber situation picture, as well as sharing information between the defense community, the public sector and the private sector.
Working to establish cross-industry and industry-specific regulation, adapted to each area in cooperation with government offices.
The INCB also established a committee for the definition of the cyber professions.
Promoting cyber security within the civilian and private sectors, in cooperation with other government offices.
Working towards the establishment of a national cyber situation assessment and the definition of the national cyber threat reference.
Promoting Israeli cyber defense industry:
Establishing the "Kidma" (Advancement of Cyber Defense R&D) program to prioritize the cyber defense industry, in cooperation with the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, in the amount of 80 million NIS over two years beginning in 2013.
Establishing the "Masad" (Dual Cyber R&D) program to promote national and defensive cyber technologies together, in cooperation with Mafat (Directorate of Defense R&D in the Ministry of Defense), in the amount of 10 million NIS for 2012-2013.
Encouraging investments by international companies in the State of Israel.
Developing academia and human capital:
Establishing an academic research fund for cyber security in cooperation with the Ministry of Science and Technology, in the amount of 32 million NIS for 2012-2014.
Granting scholarships to students studying for advanced academic degrees in the cyber field, in cooperation with the Ministry of Science and Technology, in the amount of 16 million NIS for 2012-2014.
Initiating the establishment of advanced degree programs in the cyber field.
In addition, the Bureau supported the establishment of the "Magshimim Leumit" program, which is a three-year excellence program focusing on training and developing expertise in the cyber and computer fields among outstanding students aged 16-18 residing in peripheral areas.
Working with the Council for Higher Education and relevant academic institutes to establish a strategic plan for the advancement of the academia in the cyber field.
Working to establish an online school and a research institute for cyber studies.
In the international cooperation field:
The Bureau acts to develop foreign relations in the cyber field with friendly countries for various purposes such as information sharing, mutual R&D and more.

Background for the establishment of the Bureau

The State of Israel was among the first countries in the world to recognize the importance of defending its critical computerized systems. In 1997, "Tehila" (Government Infrastructure for the Internet Age – Israel's e-GOV project) was launched with the goal of protecting the connection of government offices to the internet and providing secure hosting for the governmental sites. In 2002, the Government of Israel resolved (in Resolution 84/b) to determine the areas of responsibility for protecting computerized systems in Israel, defining critical computerized infrastructure and establishing NISA (the National Information Security Authority), which regulates and advises critical infrastructures in the field of information security.
Given the development of cyberspace and the expansion of threats in that domain, in November 2010, the Prime Minister of Israel instructed that a taskforce be established which would work to formulate national plans that would place Israel among the top five countries leading the cyber field. This work, named "The National Cyber Initiative", was led by the High Committee for Science and Technology, headed by Chairman of the National Council for Research and Development, Prof. Gen. (Res.) Isaac Ben-Israel. The taskforce that was established included representatives of the main bodies in the cyber field in Israel (research, development, defense, etc.), and comprised a number of sub-committees, which examined the components essential for Israel's preparedness in cyberspace, as well as analyzing the national benefit with regard to the economic, academic and national security aspects.
The central recommendation made in the framework of the cyber initiative was to establish a national cyber bureau that would serve as an advising body serving the Government and its head. The main activities of the Bureau relate to the overall government policy and actions in the cyber sphere with a broad point of view, civilian and military alike. On August 7, 2011, the Government of Israel approved the establishment of the National Cyber Bureau and determined that the Bureau would lead the promotion of the cyber related matters in Israel, coordinate between the various bodies, enhance the protection of national infrastructure from cyber attack and encourage the advancement of the subject in the industrial sphere. All of this, with the vision of placing Israel among the top five countries leading in the field within a relatively short number of years.