Start-ups ride a cybersecurity wave into Israel

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.timesofisrael.com/start-ups-ride-a-cybersecurity-wave-into-israel/

By David Shamah
The Times of Israel
June 17, 2013

There are two big “waves” set to hit Israeli hi-tech in the coming year, 
according to Gadi Tirosh, a general manager at venture capital fund Jerusalem 
Venture Partners. One wave will consist of new companies working in the 
cybersecurity space, as protecting government, enterprise, and consumers from 
hacking, online espionage, and cyber-terrorism becomes even more vital than in 
the past.

The second wave concerns the place where many of these security-oriented 
companies will set up shop — Beersheba, a city which will soon host many of the 
IDF’s advanced technology facilities. As the city grows, multinational giants, 
like Deutsche Telecom, Ness Technologies, EMC, and others are setting up R&D 
facilities in the city, drawing from the graduates of Ben Gurion University’s 
large body of engineering students.

It’s the perfect place, said Tirosh, for JVP to set up its new cybersecurity 
incubator. “As computer attacks get more sophisticated, they are more difficult 
to prevent,” Tirosh told the Times of Israel. “There is a big demand for 
advanced technology to keep cyberspace safe, and we are actively recruiting 
companies working in this space that have promising technologies. Beersheba, 
with its high-tech environment created by Ben Gurion University, the IDF’s 
large tech facilities, and international R&D facilities, will provide a very 
supportive environment for our startups. It’s a triangle that will benefit 
everyone involved,” Tirosh said.

Not long ago, Israel was faced with a major denial of service (DDOS) attack 
organized by hacker outfit Anonymous, in which hackers tried to overload 
Israeli computers and choke them with an excess of data. Attacks like those 
aren’t what Tirosh and many other cybersecurity experts are worried about these 
days; DDOS attacks are an annoyance, but there are strategies companies and 
countries can take to prevent them from causing damage; Israel itself utilized 
many of these techniques during the Anonymous-led #OpIsrael hack attack in 
April, and as a result, the attack, which was supposed to “destroy Israel’s 
presence on the Internet,” turned out to be a bust.

[...]

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