24 May 2024

Google Cloud VP: "Cyber attacks are psychological warfare"

Adiel Eithan Mustaki

The conversation with Sandra Joyce, vice president at Google Cloud and head of Mandiant Intelligence at Google, takes place two hours after the release of the report by the Israeli cybersecurity giant Check Point that revealed that the amount of Iranian cyber attacks against Israel has doubled since October 7.

Joyce's job is to assess the risks and threats in the world of cyber and information security in order to know which threats Israel needs to watch out for. According to Joyce, the challenge is not only dealing with the direct consequences of the cyber attacks, but also with the attacks' ability to undermine public trust in the country and the attempt to dismantle social cohesion through fake accounts on social networks.

Do we have reason to fear the increase in Iranian attacks since October 7?

"Even before October 7, Iran acted extensively against Israel in the cyber field, as well as against other countries. We also saw attacks by Hamas. So even before the war, for years, there was a challenging environment in terms of cybersecurity in Israel. On the other hand, another thing we saw that was interesting is that after October 7, many groups from Iran carried out relatively simple attacks and actions, such as defacement of a website for a limited period, and then claim that they were able to gain access to databases and data and publicize the damage in a much more significant way than what actually happened. There is a sort of "information operation", part of which is also directed at Israel. I think this is the interesting area - this intersection between the goals and capabilities of cyber attacks and the information operation."

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