Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Wednesday called for the creation of a "global defense shield" against cyber threats.
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Speaking at the annual Cyber Week conference at Tel Aviv University Bennet said, "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."
Israel decided an international effort was needed after reaching the conclusion that recent threats to cybersecurity were too great for any one country to handle alone, according to the report.
The prime minister also spoke of establishing a cyber center in Beersheba, saying, "For every $100 invested in cyber, $41 is invested in Israeli cyber."
Israel National Cyber Directorate Head Yigal Unna, who also spoke at the conference, presented statistics regarding cyberattacks during the past year, according to which one in five Israeli businesses suffered an online attack in 2020.
About 47% 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, he said.
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"Everything is under attack. Why is that? Because it's easy," said Bennett. "If you want to attack, the best, easiest and cheapest method is through a cyber attack. That is why it will increase as time goes on. I believe cyberattacks have become one of the significant threats to world peace."
JNS.org contributed to this report.
