There is no equivocation in how the Israeli military views cyber-security. "Using computer networks for espionage is as important to warfare today as the advent of air support was to warfare in the 20th century," says Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, chief of military intelligence.

Speaking recently at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) here, Yadlin says the ability to collect information and launch cyber-attacks gives small countries, terror groups and even individuals the power to inflict serious damage unlimited by range on a target -- the kind of damage that was once the province of large countries.

Noting that the U.S. and Britain are setting up cyber-warfare commands, Yadlin says Israel has its own soldiers and officers working on an "Internet warfare" team dedicated to cyber-security. The issue is critical for many governments. In the U.S., Lockheed Martin recently opened the NexGen Cyber Innovation and Technology Center to address global cyber-security needs. The company has helped launch an industry association focusing on providing government, business and industry (including defense contractors) with integrated cyber-security solutions.

In confronting cyber-attacks, military intelligence has become a combat arm of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Computer networks are being exploited by hacking into databases or carrying out sabotage with malicious software (malware) that infiltrates and inflicts damage in adversary computers.

To counter cyber-attack, Yadlin says Israel's armed forces have the means to provide adequate network security. "The cyber-warfare field fits well with Israel's defense doctrine."

The ubiquity of the Internet and its ease of use make it vulnerable to infiltration, exploitation and sabotage. IDF intelligence estimates that several countries in the Middle East use Russian hackers and scientists to operate on their behalf. Since the 2006 war against Hezbollah, when cyber-warfare was part of the conflict, Israel has attached growing importance to cyber-tactics.

Israel in fact is, along with the U.S., France and a couple of other nations, a leader in cyber-war planning. Cyber-warfare teams are integrated within Israel's spy agencies, which have rich experience in traditional sabotage techniques.

Israel's high-tech industry is at the forefront of computer and software development, particularly in the areas of security and communications. Companies such as Comverse and Nice Systems are world leaders in "legal eavesdropping" networks, while Checkpoint Software is an innovator in network security. Many international high-tech companies are locating research and development operations in Israel, where local hires are often veterans of the IDF's elite computer units.

In fact, most of Israel's technical know-how originates from the army, especially the computer and C4I (command, control, communications, computers and intelligence) division of the intelligence branch. Veterans of these specialized units have become the mainstay of top-secret work at tech companies.

While it is clear Israel has successfully used cyber-tactics against enemies, it is harder to know to what extent it has been hit by cyber-attacks. Israel says little about its cyber-operations, but occasional leaks point to a trend of active involvement by computer experts in covert and sometimes overt operations.

In September 2007, for example, Israeli jets destroyed a suspected nuclear facility under construction in a remote part of Syria. From what journalists have discerned, Israel jammed Syrian radar and other defenses, allowing sufficient time to launch the strike undetected. During the attack, cyber-tactics appeared to involve remote air-to-ground electronic attack and network penetration of Syria's command-and-control systems.

There is evidence that a sophisticated network attack and electronic hacking capability have become indispensable components of the IDF arsenal. Government-owned Elta Systems, an authority on communications intelligence (comint), recently announced a line of "CellInt" support systems, offering cross-border interception of cellular networks and active monitoring of satellite links, including those operated by the UAE's Thuraya satellite communications network, used throughout Southwest Asia. Elta's cyber-warfare systems, activated from ground, naval, airborne or unmanned platforms, intercept a target network, track connections and calls between networks, and infiltrate deep into an enemy's communications loop.

The vanguard of Israel's cyber-warfare efforts is focused on blocking Iran's nuclear ambitions. A U.S. expert said recently that malware could be inserted, disrupting the controls of sensitive sites like uranium enrichment plants. The appeal of cyber-attacks has increased, Israeli intelligence sources say, due to the limited feasibility of air strikes on the distant and heavily fortified Iranian nuclear facilities, and by U.S. reluctance to open another war front in the region. The newspaper Ha'aretz reports that Israeli intelligence has tried to insert malware that can damage information systems within Iran's nuclear program. The systems are not connected to the Internet, but to equipment sold to the Iranian government

This is the future of cyber-war. Modern societies are complex networks of people, information systems and equipment. Enormous advantages will be obtained by adversaries that quickly identify and neutralize critical nodes within the systems.

Apart from the military, two other government bodies operate in the field of cyber-warfare. Shin Bet, Israel's internal security authority, directs its focus on Palestinians and Israeli Arabs. The agency has established a department for the protection of information that is responsible for coordinating network security of government and infrastructure of strategic importance, such as Israel's electric utility or the Mekorot water company. A special department in the finance ministry also works to protect government cyber-systems from being hacked.

While critical systems are not directly connected to the Internet, they can be penetrated and attacked by indirect means, such as stealthy "Trojan horses" planted in electronic devices like cell phones, personal digital assistants and computers, through file-sharing services or through the Internet without an owner's knowledge, turning personal communicators into active eavesdropping devices.

Cyber-attacks against Israeli networks have been encountered in recent conflicts. When tensions with Hamas or the Palestinian Authority flare up, Israeli web sites immediately suffer a barrage of virtual assaults. During Operation Cast Lead in Gaza last year, cyber-attacks were unusually severe, peaking with millions of junk mail deliveries lasting for days.

Israel has made major investments in infrastructure as part of the global war on terrorism and the related fight against money-laundering and financial support of terrorist activities. Agencies are targeting individuals and groups of known terrorist supporters in an attempt to extract intelligence from e-mails, chat rooms, instant messaging and Internet phone calls. But there are more layers of information to be mined below such direct intercepts, empowering services with the capability to spot, track and isolate suspicious objectives through mass interception methods. Employing mass interception requires sophisticated analysis tools and processing reams of information, enabling services to trace network activities and extract clues by analyzing volumes of communications.

Though considered vulnerable to hostile intercepts, wireless cellular networks offer Western intelligence agencies dramatic advantages, since they have become common in Third World countries and in areas not covered by U.S. and European lawful interception acts. Exploited by modern communications intelligence, wireless connections -- including WiFi, microwave links, local area networks, cellular systems and WiMax broadband mobile links, and even satellite networks -- are easily intercepted, providing covert access to a wealth of information without subscribers' or operators' knowledge.

Hence, the demand for comint equipment. Physical networks considered relatively safe from eavesdropping have become vulnerable to stealthy probes, with bugging devices capable of capturing traffic over broadband channels and gathering intelligence by searching for suspicious words, phrases and names.

Critical government systems are run on intranets, networks that operate independently from the Internet and often carry sensitive and classified information. A nation's most secret networks are increasingly "air-gapped," meaning they do not link to other systems. But many government webs still have points at which they interface with the Internet, and thus can be infected with malware. So even though intranets are relatively controlled environments, one mistake in procedure, however slight, can compromise an entire network.

Eternal vigilance, it has been said, is the price of freedom, and, it appears, of cyber-security.

Photo credit: USAF