"Israel's Cyber Chief Warns of AI-Driven Cyberattacks"

"𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗪𝗮𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆, 𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘁." 📢 That is the stark warning from Yossi Karadi, Head of Israel National Cyber Directorate - מערך הסייבר הלאומי, delivered on stage during the 4th day of AI Week by Commit and Calcalist כלכליסט, in collaboration with Google Cloud. In his conversation with Calcalist’s Omer Kabir, Karadi laid out a scenario that is no longer science fiction. An adversary with massive digital capabilities could launch AI-driven cyberattacks, impose a full digital siege on a country, and cause real harm to everyday citizens. In his words, all it would take is for the state to raise a white flag. Karadi described the convergence of AI and cyber as inevitable. AI is built on the same digital backbone that already transformed our lives, and it multiplies our dependence on that infrastructure. He outlined three layers where this collision is already happening: using AI to strengthen cyber defense, securing AI systems themselves, and a fast-approaching future of AI agents attacking and AI agents defending. Cyber attackers are already exploiting AI to write better code, upgrade their malware, scan networks continuously, and hunt for vulnerabilities at a speed and precision that humans cannot match. The barrier to entry is dropping, empowering everyone from lone teenage hackers to highly advanced state-backed groups. At the same time, defenders must learn to protect AI on two fronts, both the algorithms and the data that powers them. Poisoned data or a manipulated model can quietly distort decisions and outputs, long before anyone notices that the system has been compromised. “We are moments away from the first true cyber war, where there will be no shots fired. A digitally powerful enemy could place a country under AI-based cyber siege, and the ones who will feel it first will be ordinary citizens.” he said. Karadi also highlighted how AI is already becoming a force multiplier for defense. In Israel, AI tools are used to cluster massive volumes of attacks, identify that multiple incidents are actually one coordinated campaign, and deploy agents that monitor, detect, and help contain threats while reducing the load on human cyber teams. Read the full article and watch the session here 👇🏼 https://lnkd.in/eSUxEumu Tune in every day at 12:00 on Calcalist website: www.calcalist.co.il, for a new broadcast packed with insights, innovation, and the ideas shaping 2026. The future is now. Stay tuned. ✨ --- #AI #CyberSecurity #AIWEEK #Calcalist #NationalSecurity #CyberDefense #AITransformation