About the Event

  

Cyber Week

Cyber Week is a large annual international cybersecurity event, at Tel Aviv University in Israel.  Over the past nine years, Cyber Week has become internationally acclaimed as one of the top cybersecurity events in the world. Cyber Week offers a unique gathering of cybersecurity experts, industry leaders, startups, investors, academics, diplomats, and government officials. With over 9,000 attendees from more than 80 countries, this conference offers a thought-provoking exchange of knowledge, methods, and ideas. Cyber Week traditionally runs for a full week and include over 50 roundtables, panels, workshops, forums, BSides, competitions, and more. 

Cyber Week is held jointly by the Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center (ICRC), The Yuval Ne’eman Workshop for Science, Technology and Security, Tel Aviv University, the Israeli National Cyber Directorate under the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

As a result of Covid-19, we have chosen to run our 2020 event on a virtual platform. Cyber Week Online will encapsulate the thought-provoking events we have provided our audiences with for over 10 years, but will do so in a safe and dynamic way.

 
 

Conference Chairman

Major Gen. (Ret.) Prof. Isaac Ben-Israel serves as Head of the Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center (ICRC). Additionally, he serves as Chairman of the Yuval Ne’eman Workshop for Science, Technology and Security, Chairman of the Israeli Space Agency in the Ministry of Science, Technology and Space.

Isaac Ben-Israel was born in Israel (Tel-Aviv), He studied Mathematics, Physics and Philosophy at Tel-Aviv University, receiving his Ph.D. He joined the Israel Air Force (IAF) after graduating high school and has served continuously up to his retirement. In January 1998 he was promoted to Major General and appointed as Director of Defence R&D Directorate in IMOD. During his service he received twice the Israeli Defence Award.

After retirement from the IDF Isaac Ben Israel joined the University of Tel-Aviv as a professor. In 2002 he founded and headed the Yuval Ne’eman Workshop for Science, Technology and Security.

In 2011 he was appointed by the Prime Minister to lead a task force that formulated Israel national cyber policy. Following that he founded the National Cyber Headquarters in the PM Office. In 2014 he was appointed again by the PM to lead another task force which resulted in a government decision (February 2015) to set up a new National Cyber Authority. He was the Chairman of Israel National R&D council between 2010-2016.

Professor Ben-Israel has written numerous papers on military and security issues. His book Dialogues on Science and Military Intelligence (1989) won the Itzhak-Sade Award for Military Literature.

 

Blavatnik ICRC

The Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center (ICRC), inaugurated in Tel Aviv University (TAU), is a joint initiative with the National Cyber Directorate, Prime Minister’s Office, and provides an academic framework for the interdisciplinary research on the dynamic and constantly evolving field of cyber. The Center’s 50+ TAU faculty members and 200+ cyber researchers have attained national and international prominence for their scholarship and industry expertise. They are drawn from many different disciplines including Exact Sciences, Computer Sciences, Law, Engineering, Social Sciences, Management and Humanities.

Since its inception, the ICRC has aimed to:

  • Enrich the volume and quality of academic research in the cyber field
  • Provide information to the security sector for future use
  • Help advance academic training and the efforts of academic personnel in the field
  • Increase the academic efforts and awareness of the field of cyber security
  • Provide an important intersection between government, industry and academia

The ICRC researches key issues such as security software, attacks on hardware and software, cryptography, network protocols, security of operating systems and networks, as well as the impact of these topics on national security, society, regulation and the business sector.

The Center operates a research fund which is supported by the Israeli National Cyber Directorate, Prime Minister’s Office.

 Visit the ICRC website here

 

Yuval Ne'eman Workshop

The Yuval Ne’eman Workshop for Science, Technology and Security was launched in 2002 by Major-General (Res.) Prof. Isaac Ben-Israel in conjunction with the Harold Hartog School of Policy and Government and the Security Studies Program at Tel Aviv University. The Workshop was founded with the clear directive of exploring the links between science, technology and security. The Workshop conducts a broad range of research activities that include the publication of research papers and policy reports in the field of national security strategy & policy. Alongside its research activities, the Workshop also holds a senior executive forum that promotes public-private partnerships and initiatives and a popular series of monthly conferences at Tel Aviv University with the participation of senior IDF staff and security organization members, politicians, academia, and executives from leading Israeli and International companies. The goal of the Workshops’ activities is to create an open and fruitful dialogue with the general public in the fields of interest of the Workshop: Cyber Security, Space and Emerging Issues of National Security.

Cyber Security:

The Yuval Ne’eman Workshop has been leading research and initiatives in the cyber security field for more than a decade and aims to find security solutions to help protect cyberspace from the rising threats. As we make progress as a society, our cyber abilities advance. The many possibilities the cyber space offers are unfortunately perceived to our enemies as vulnerabilities, and so – with every passing day, we witness evolving cyber threats and targeted attacks on critical infrastructures, with new forms of hacktivism and the growing danger of cybercrime creating a complicated threat landscape to nations worldwide.


 Israel National Cyber Directorate

Israel National Cyber Directorate (INCD) is a national-level agency responsible for advancing and implementing cyber policy, reporting directly to the Prime Minister. The INCD tasks includes protecting civilian cyber space, developing national cyber defense capabilities, and improving Israel’s ability to meet strategic challenges in the field of cybersecurity. The INCD is also responsible for strengthening Israel’s international presence in cyber, specifically its status as a world leader in the development of cyber-related knowledge and technologies.

  The Israel Cyber Alliance (ILCA)

 The Israel Cyber Alliance (ILCA), a joint venture between the Israel Export Institute, the Ministry of Economy and Industry, and the Israel National Cyber Directorate, represents more than 350 Israeli companies in the cyber security field, and works to maximize the effectiveness of their business engagements with foreign counterparts in Israel and foreign markets. ILCA exposes Israeli capabilities and innovative cyber security solutions to potential foreign clients and partners, either as stand-alone solutions or as an overarching tailor-made suite of solutions, accommodating their specific short- and long-term needs. To that end, ILCA, which plays a key role in the Israeli ecosystem and is well acquainted with the needs of the local cyber industry, holds the most comprehensive and up-to-date database of Israeli-based cyber security companies.

ILCA’s wide and global network of partnerships with foreign counterparts, from the public and private sectors alike, is constantly exploring new avenues of cooperation with its existing partners. Additionally, ILCA is looking to expand its network and forge new productive partnerships with foreign governments and organizations, in order to generate substantial business value both for its Israeli members and for its foreign counterparts and partners.

 

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Functions and Structure:

  • The Foreign Ministry formulates, implements and presents the foreign policy of the Government of Israel.
  • It represents the state vis-a-vis foreign governments and international organizations, explains its positions and problems throughout the world, endeavors to promote its economic, cultural, and scientific relations, and fosters cooperation with developing countries. Israel currently maintains diplomatic relations with 162 countries.
  • The Ministry promotes relations with Diaspora communities and safeguards the rights of Israeli citizens abroad.
  • The Ministry discharges its diverse duties through its head office in Jerusalem and the Israeli missions abroad.