The potential for Israel-Australia cooperation on a new kind of threat
Last month’s Melbourne International Film Festival featured Alex Gibney’s documentary Zero Days, taking viewers deep into the world of cyber warfare through the story of Stuxnet – the infamous cyber weapon that was unleashed on the centrifuges at Iran’s secret nuclear facility in late 2008. Reportedly designed by the US and Israel, Stuxnet appears to constitute the world’s first cyber attack to inflict actual physical damage on an industrial system – the inadvertent unveiling of a “new tool in warfare” – though, as the film highlights, it is unlikely to be the last.
This new era of cyberspace has serious implications for Israel, particularly as it becomes clear that cyber attacks are proving to be Iran’s “weapon of choice”.
Meanwhile, the Australian Government has been paying increasing attention to cyber-security, with an official Australian Cyber Security Strategy released in April, and an ABC-TV “Four Corners” program on Aug. 29 highlighting a series of breaches of government computer networks by cyber attacks.
With Israel also making defence against cyber-attacks both a major priority and a growth industry, this is an obvious area for Australia-Israel cooperation.
Read the article by AIJAC staff in the Australia-Israel Review.