Israel and US Tightening Cyber Collaboration

This post is also available in: עברית (Hebrew)

Israel and the US have been expanding ties on the cyber front. The two countries have finalized a series of cybersecurity collaboration agreements aimed at collaboration on combating terrorist financing, creating an institutional vehicle to enable cyber-specific research and development, and collaborating on transportation cybersecurity.

According to the agreement signed on March 2, the enhanced cyber cooperation between the two countries will include the protection of the respective economies and critical infrastructure, increasing collaborative risk management of cyber threats, countering ransomware attacks, and promoting bilateral cyber R&D and partnerships between the public and private sectors.

The agreement was signed by Israel National Cyber Directorate Director-General Gaby Portnoy and US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy and Plans Robert Silvers. 

According to the Israel National Cyber Directorate, the purpose of the agreement was to promote advanced technologies for cyber protection and strengthen information sharing on the ground and expert exchanges in fields like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, homomorphic encryption, and navigation technology.

The directorate also signed a separate agreement with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) — housed under DHS — to enhance cybersecurity collaboration in transportation, according to timesofisrael.com.