Why Does Israel Dominate Cyber Security?

With the 25th largest GDP in the world, a population of only 8 million, and having achieved nuclear capabilities as early as 1967, Israeli military forces dominate the military and cybersecurity world. Israel is about 2% of the size of the United States but boasts 400 funded cybersecurity companies (vs. 1000 in the US).

Israel is a leader in cybersecurity innovation. One of the main drivers of this is the fact that they are under constant threat from outside forces. The countries reliance and investment on leading security can be understood by examining the elite cyber unit of the Israeli Defense Forces, Unit 8200. The unit focuses on information collection and code decryption, recruiting primarily on the basis of strong interpersonal and problem-solving skills.

The Israeli military’s cyber forces are constantly responding to the evolution of internal terrorism, facing a multitude of cyberattacks on the country’s infrastructure. For example in October of 2018, the IDF revealed that Unit 8200 thwarted an ISIS attack at another Weser power in 2017.

The reasons for the country’s global domination of the cybersecurity space is the presence of government coordination, cyber defense systems in the military context, and a focus on recruiting the country’s greatest talent.