Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called on Wednesday for the creation of a “global defense shield” against cyber attacks.
Speaking at the annual Cyber Week conference at Tel Aviv University, said Bennet, “We have already signed agreements with a dozen countries—instead of each country or company being alone the defense will be integrated. We invite good countries to join us in this initiative,” according to Calcalist.
Just prior to Bennett’s address, Yigal Unna, director general of the Israel National Cyber Directorate, presented statistics regarding cyber attacks during the past year, according to which one in five Israeli businesses suffered an online attack in 2020. About 47 percent of Israeli high-tech companies were attacked last year as well. The high numbers are not unique to Israel and were spurred in part by the coronavirus pandemic that led to a jump in cybercrime, according to Calcalist.
The prime minister also spoke of establishing a cyber center in Beersheva.
“For every $100 invested in cyber, $41 is invested in Israeli cyber,” he said.
Cyber Week 2021 runs from July 19 through July 22.