Could Israel withstand an AI cyberattack from Russia, China?

Jerusalem has had a big advantage over its current weaker cyber adversaries such as Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas, but that Russia and China are in a different league.

By YONAH JEREMY BOBMAY 17, 2024 15:18

Israel will have its work cut out for it if, in the future, either Russia or China uses a synergy of artificial intelligence (AI) and cyber tools against it, said former IDF Unit 8200 Col. (res.) and Team 8 Chief Ideation Officer Bobby Gilburd.

Speaking to the Magazine following Team 8’s recent report relating to AI and business issues, Gilburd said that Jerusalem has had a big advantage over its current weaker cyber adversaries such as Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas, but that Russia and China are in a different league.

Gilburd, who retired in mid-2022 from the IDF’s Unit 8200 after two decades of work, said Israel does benefit from observing the AI competition between Western countries and countries like China or Russia. He noted that the US has regulations now regarding AI in areas where Israel has still failed to implement proper regulations, but that America faces much tougher adversaries, such as China and Russia “with much vaster capabilities than our enemies.”

“I don’t know how we would do if they [China and Russia] invested” in undermining Israel using their AI capabilities, as opposed to Israel’s main adversary Iran, which does not compare to Israel, China, or Russia as a tech power.

He said, “The US challenge is much harder and complex due to China and Russia, which has resulted in America developing more regulations for its national infrastructure. Israel can watch and learn” from both American regulation and strategic successes and failures in defending against foreign AI interference and hacking.

“We aren’t in the first wave of being attacked; America is more interesting to them than we are,” he stated.

More specifically, Gilburd discussed an executive order issued by US President Joe Biden on AI in October 2023 and again in March, in which the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) addressed risks from adversaries through AI.

Gilburd said that the new policies “are incredible because they came out earlier than usual. With cloud technologies, it took years after the technology had already existed to speak about addressing attacks. Now the US government is leading initiatives to defend digital infrastructure. They understand that this is a weapon.”

But he warned that social networks are only one aspect, since AI can do fake audio and video.A