The Israel National Cyber Directorate led an unprecedented international drill on 16th November, in Dubai, simulating a multinational cyber attack on the aviation industry. The event was held in the Israeli pavilion at World Expo Dubai 2020, in partnership with the Cybersecurity Council of the United Arab Emirates. Yigal Unna, Director General of the Israel National Cyber Directorate, and Dr. Mohammed Al-Kuwaiti, Managing Director of the National Data Centre, were in attendance.
Participating in the event were representatives from airports, airlines, aircraft manufacturers, civilian aviation authorities, cyber authorities and cybersecurity companies from various countries, including; Israel, the United States, Germany, Greece, Morocco, Bahrain and the UAE. This was the first time that representatives from a number of countries gathered to simulate a cyber attack of this kind and worked together on how to handle it.
According to Tamir Goren, Director of Special Technologies in the Technology Unit in the Israel National Cyber Directorate and a former pilot, “International organisation and collaboration on this issue is necessary, as over the past decade, we have seen an upswing in the number of attempted attacks on the aviation sector around the world at different levels of sophistication. Aviation has become more digitally advanced, and communications between various threats has significantly increased the possibility of attacks. There have not yet been any attacks that have damaged aviation safety, nevertheless, the aviation sector and cyber authorities are intensifying efforts in this field in order to ensure the continued safety of aviation and functional continuity. The Israel National Cyber Directorate and the Civil Aviation Authority are leading these efforts in Israel.”