Karadi disclosed that in 2025 alone, his INDC handled more than 26,000 cyberattacks, a 55% increase over 2024. Israel ranks as the third most attacked country in the world<\/a>, according to Microsoft\u2019s latest data, with 3.5% of all global cyberattacks directed at Israel over the past year.<\/p>\n \t \u201cGladly, most of the attempts were detected and prevented,\u201d Karadi remarked. \u201cThese numbers tell us one thing very clearly: Cyber is no longer supporting the battlefield, cyber is the battlefield.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis battlefield will be so fast, many events will begin and end without human visibility,\u201d he predicted.<\/p>\n Speaking to The Times of Israel on the sidelines of the conference, Sergey Shykevich, head of threat intelligence at Check Point Software Technologies, said that AI and deepfakes (manipulated images and video) are reshaping the cyber threat landscape, blurring the line between what is real and what is fake, which opens up another arena for attackers to extract sensitive information and data from government entities, healthcare providers, and enterprises.<\/p>\n \u201cIn cyber warfare, the vast majority, probably 95% of the activity is Iran-linked,\u201d said Shykevich. \u201cThe goal is to hack and leak information from operations and companies to show Israelis that our government and our authorities are not able to protect its citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n He added, \u201cDuring the 12-day war with Iran in June, we also saw an increase of 1,500% in the targeting or hacking of specific vulnerabilities in cameras in Israel by Iranian attackers, and the main goal was to understand whether the rockets they fired were successful or not.\u201d<\/p>\n \t Karadi said that over the past year in Israel, the three most targeted areas by bad actors were the financial sector, government institutions, and digital service providers.<\/p>\n In response, and to address the new reality of emerging threats, Israel has launched a national multi-year cyber defense plan built on three main strategic pillars: cloud security, cyber AI, and quantum technologies, according to Karadi.<\/p>\n \u201cThe transition to the cloud is happening across government, military, industry, and the economy,\u201d said Karadi. \u201cThe cyber arena is shifting, and the cloud is becoming a big attack surface, and this is where the cybersecurity industry plays a critical role.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIsrael is already a leading cybersecurity powerhouse, and now our task is to extend that leadership into cyber AI, building AI-based detection, identification, and mitigation capabilities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The true impact of the quantum technology front, Karadi said, will be far more profound.<\/p>\n \u201cQuantum will reshape the entire cyber landscape, opening a new attack surface we do not yet fully understand,\u201d Karadi said. \u201cOur role is to set the national strategy that will enable capabilities, skills, infrastructures, and strengthen true public-private partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n \t \u201cWe are promoting national technological initiatives to connect Israeli technology to our national projects,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Shykevich emphasized that in 2026, the main challenge is to protect the AI ecosystem as autonomous technologies are increasingly embedded in the day-to-day operations of businesses, governments, and organizations.<\/p>\n \u201cAI is a new technology, and everyone is excited, including the attackers, so this year we will face more attacks on the AI ecosystem and the AI surface,\u201d said Shykevich. \u201cThe danger is that if we don\u2019t keep [up] with the speed, and with figuring out what we need to protect in this cat and mouse game, the cat will win.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tIllustrative: A man looks at a video on an Israeli website that was hacked overnight by an Iran-based hacker group calling itself \u201cHacking Saviours\u201d, at an office in Jerusalem on May 21, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel\/Flash90)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Sergey-640x400.jpeg\")
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\n\t\tSergey Shykevich, head of threat intelligence at Check Point Software Technologies, speaks at the Cybertech Global conference in Tel Aviv, Jan. 27, 2026. (Courtesy of Gilad Kavalerchik)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AP23334816281655-e1701545482393-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tIllustrative: The screen of an Israeli-made Unitronics device that was hacked in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, on November 25, 2023. (Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa via AP)<\/p>\n
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