Iran launches cyberattacks against Israel "on a daily basis," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday at the Cybertech Conference in Tel Aviv.
"We monitor these attacks. We see [them] and we foil these attacks all the time," Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu said that Iran's threats against Israel took other forms, as well.
"Iran threatens us in many ways. They have issued in the last 24 hours threats that say they'll destroy us, [that] they'll target our cities with missiles. We're not oblivious to these threats. They don't impress us because we know what our power is, both in defense and offense," the prime minister said.
Netanyahu told the conference participants that all countries are vulnerable to cyberattacks.
"Every country needs the combination of a national cyber defense effort and a robust cyber security industry. And I think Israel has that … in ways that are unmatched," Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu said that Israel was cooperating with over 70 countries on cyber defense and was second in the field only to the U.S., which is 42 times larger than Israel.
Prime Minister of Lithuania Saulius Skvernelis said at the conference that his country had begun working with Israel on cyber defense a few years ago, with encouragement from Netanyahu, and that on Monday Israel and Lithuania had signed an agreement to expand cooperation in the field.
"The European Union needs to strengthen its ties with Israel, which is such an important ally," Skvernelis said.
Yigal Unna, director-general of the National Cyber Directorate, said, "We see that artificial intelligence is being employed and we are looking into ways to expand cyber defenses.
"In addition, we have launched the 119 hotline to receive warnings about every attack. We have ties with over 70 nations, and we've signed five MOUs (memorandums of understanding) – including just this week with Lithuania and Australia," Unna said.
