Reuters revealed last Tuesday that Israel is developing a cyberwarfare program to combat the growing threat of an Iranian nuclear arsenal – covertly of course. Evidently the idea has grown since the 1990’s, when a researcher hacked into the mainframe of an Israeli fuel depot as part of a security check. The possibility of deliberately utilizing such tactics has led to the gradual growth of a program which could provide a non-military “solution.”
“We came to the conclusion that, for our purposes, a key Iranian vulnerability is in its online information…we have acted accordingly,” said one recently retired Israeli security cabinet member to Reuters’ Dan Williams. Israel is rated the sixth highest threat of cyberwarfare worldwide, behind China, Russia, Iran, France, and…notably…”extremist terrorist groups,” according to a US consultancy which has released information on a plethora of cyber-attacks, including Russian interference with Georgian technology last summer.
In light of these rankings, how do we judge the credibility or relevance of the Israeli program? And, perhaps more importantly, who exactly are these states a threat to? If we’re looking at threats to the US, then could we perhaps discount Israel as a threat at all, and put it on some other list? Perhaps “assets.” If we’re looking at threats to anyone at all, then certainly Israel must count Iran itself as much higher in ranking.
It seems only fitting that the Israelis are matching the apparent capabilities of Iran. As the Islamic Republic’s geographically closest Western enemy, Israel stands with perhaps the most to lose from the fruition of Iran’s nuclear ambitions. And if obstacles are overcome, the cyberwarfare teams “nestled deep within Israel’s spy agencies” could prove a formidable threat. With the political costs of Middle East intervention skyrocketing in the US, might the Israeli program not prove…shall we say…useful?
