Doron Amir | Photo: Yossi Aloni
Doron Amir | Photo: Yossi Aloni

“Iran Will Not Survive Israel’s Cyber Attacks”

The CEO of CyTaka, Doron Amir, emphasized this at a special cyber security conference recently held in Herzliya. According to him, the Iranian nuclear project is also in danger for the same reason.

“Iran will not survive Israel’s cyber attacks,” says Doron Amir, cyber security expert and CEO of the cyber company CyTaka.

“Iran is approaching the point of no return. It is enough to look at history to understand that if years ago, the nuclear reactor in Iran was attacked by the malware Stuxnet – then it is clear that in 2024, Israel has much more significant tools to deal with the problem. The tools that existed then compared to today is like comparing a slingshot to a hypersonic missile armed with a nuclear warhead,” Amir emphasized.

Amir spoke at a special cybersecurity conference organized by CyTaka in cooperation with the Israel Air Force Center. The conference took place last week in Herzliya. It aimed to encourage young people from the Ethiopian community, Haredim, Druze, Bedouins, and Circassians before they are recruited into special cyber units in the IDF.

“The tools that existed then compared to today is like comparing a slingshot to a hypersonic missile armed with a nuclear warhead.” Doron Amir | Photo: Yossi Aloni

He stated that the collaboration between cyber and the Israel Air Force has set a global precedent for attacking nuclear reactors of enemy countries seeking destructive power rather than progress. He mentioned that back in the 1970s, unit 8200 established teams to intercept conversations between Iraq and France regarding the nuclear reactor in Iraq. There was also intelligence activity to intercept telex transmissions sent to researchers at Aman – Military Intelligence Directorate (Israel). These actions laid the groundwork for the Air Force’s attack on the Iraqi nuclear reactor in June 1981, known as Operation Opera, as explained by Amir.    

Outside The Box

Twenty-six years later, the Israeli Air Force once again destroyed a nuclear reactor, this time in Syria, in an operation called ‘Outside The Box.’ The information confirming the reactor’s existence, which was initially published in foreign media, came from the personal knowledge of Ibrahim Othman, the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission in Syria, while he was in Vienna, Austria. “The reactor was intended for the construction of a nuclear bomb,” said the CEO of CyTaka at the conference, highlighting the inseparable connection between the Air Force and cyber operations, which are conducted through IDF units and the Mossad – The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations, according to foreign publications.

“Another attack on a nuclear reactor took place in 2010 targeting the Iranian nuclear program,” said Amir. “It was a direct cyber attack involving a harmful injection into the nuclear facilities in Iran. The malware, called ‘Stuxnet’, targeted the controllers of the centrifuges in the nuclear facilities and caused significant damage. This successful operation, which occurred almost a decade and a half ago, clearly demonstrates that today, the cyber and air force capabilities are much more advanced and are at a lethal level.”

At the start of his speech at the conference, which was attended by exceptional candidates about to be recruited into elite cyber units, Amir addressed the issue of the hostages. He emphasized to those present, “We can only return to normal life when everyone returns back home. Time has no mercy.”

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