Iron Dome Creator Developing Cyber Dome

As head of the Israel Defense Forces' research and development division, Danny Gold had a monumental part in developing and creating the Iron Dome, a project that at first was deemed impossible.

Currently, Iron Dome is the world’s only dual mission system that provides an effective defense solution for countering rockets, artillery and mortars as well as aircraft, helicopters, UAVs and PGMs.

According to the IDF, it boasts a 90% success rate.

Now, as reported by Calcalist, Gold, who currently serves as the chairman of the National Cyber Committee at the National Council for Research and Development, has embarked on a new project for Israel's defense system, this time against cyber attacks.

Think of it as a cyber dome.

The project will reportedly cost hundreds of millions of shekels, and will be implemented within the next three years. Gold is looking to present the project next week, at the 4th Annual International Cyber-Security Conference of the Yuval Ne'eman Workshop for Science, Technology and Security at Tel Aviv University.

The Cyber Dome will work against hackers conspiring to attack Israel's cyberspace network, whether it's a regular Israeli citizen, an Israeli bank, or a high-level security entity.

According to Gold, it will be able to identify potential threats before they occur.

While the project has yet to be officially announced, Calcalist has learned that it will be run by the Israeli Defense Ministry, the Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure and the National Cyber Bureau in the Prime Minister's Office.

"The Iron Dome deals with only a number of aspects of defense," Gold said to Calcalist. "It deals with a rocket only after it is fired. The system itself doesn't launch an attack on the target from which the rockets are fired, but pinpoints it for other units in the army. The objective of the cyber defense network is to locate the threat beforehand and to prevent it from materializing, and eventually it will also be able to attack hackers who have tried to breach the network."

The defense system will look to successfully identify all potential threats, protect against them, and run a counterstrike against the hackers.

Gold hopes that the Cyber Dome will encourage companies such as Google or Microsoft to collaborate with Israeli cyber startups as well.

"There are some 200 start-up companies in the cyber field in Israel, "Gold said, "but there is no body that integrates them. A large company can decide that it is working with 10 small start-ups, each of which is developing a specific component in a system, and thus be able to provide a larger and more integrated system."