IDF to post first ‘cyberdefense’ officers to its regional commands
(JNS.org) The Israel Defense Forces is stepping up its efforts on the cyber front and will soon post a “cyberdefense” officer to each of its four regional commands, Israel Hayom reported.
Each command—Northern, Southern, Central and Homefront—will be appointed an officer who will be under the direct professional command of the IDF’s Computer Service Directorate, which is responsible for the army’s cyberdefenses. Similar officers are already stationed to several of the army’s other branches.
On Sunday the first of these officers, with the rank of lieutenant, will be posted to IDF Central Command. The command’s computer services officer, Col. Yariv Nir, explained: “The officer will lead, on the command level, coordination efforts between the Computer Service Directorate’s Cyber Defense Division and [Central] Command.”
Nir added that the officer, who will work in conjunction with the Information Security Department, will be tasked with implementing the department’s decisions and ensuring that only those with security clearance for certain information can access it. In addition, the officer will be responsible for dealing with irregular incidents that occur in the cyber sphere.
“Today we increasingly utilize technological and command and control systems, which make it possible for commanders to make better decisions,” Nir said. “We must ensure that these systems function unhampered, and in order to do so we must adequately protect them. Just as the army is trusted with protecting Israel’s borders, the Computer Service Directorate is trusted with defending its cyber borders.”
Jewish mayor Koch fondly remembered by New York’s Christian leaders
(JNS.org) New York’s former outspoken and charismatic Jewish mayor, Ed Koch, who passed away on Feb. 1, was remembered for his strong ties to New York’s Christian community.
“He will have a special place in my prayers, and in those of the Catholic community he loved and worked closely with,” said New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan, EWTN News reported.
As mayor, Koch received special greetings from Pope John Paul II and maintained strong friendships with the Roman Catholic Church, especially with Cardinal John O’Connor.
Cardinal Dolan told EWTN that the relationship between Koch and O’Connor was what “symbolized” New York to him as a young priest.
“These two men showed how, despite some deep philosophical disagreements, they could not only work together for the good of the city of New York, but could become close personal friends,” he said.
The two became so close that Koch accompanied O’Connor to Rome when he was elevated from archbishop to cardinal.
Adding to Koch’s legacy with Christians, he was buried at Manhattan’s Trinity Cemetery— which is associated with the Episcopal Church—on Feb 4.
Koch, who considered himself a secular Jew, chose the location because it is one of the only cemeteries in Manhattan still accepting burials.
“I don’t want to leave Manhattan, even when I’m gone,” Koch told the Associated Press in 2008.
Technion, Microsoft predict world disease outbreaks
(JNS.org) Technion-Israel Institute of Technology doctoral student Kira Radinsky and Microsoft researcher Eric Horvitz have developed a program that can predict future disease and violence outbreaks with 70 to 90 percent accuracy. The researchers combined archives accumulated over 20 years by the New York Times and other websites like Wikipedia, and used the data to make the predictions.
“I truly view this as a foreshadowing of what’s to come… eventually this kind of work will start to have an influence on how things go for people,” Horvitz told Technology Review, according to Israel Hayom.
Radinsky and Horvitz’s software correctly predicted Cholera outbreaks in 2006 and 2007 in Angola by using the data to determine that prolonged years of drought tend to be followed by outbreaks of the disease.
“A cholera outbreak warning can be given a year in advance,” said Radinsky.
19th Israeli Knesset inaugurated, coalition possibilities debated
(JNS.org) Israel’s new 120-member Knesset was sworn in Tuesday two weeks after the country’s parliamentary election.
“The public’s eyes are on you, members of Knesset, in the hope that you’ll prove to be worthy emissaries for the creation of a better future,” said Israeli President Shimon Peres, who welcomed the new Knesset, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.
As re-elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues his efforts to build a coalition for the next Israeli government, he has met with Israel’s Labor party leader Shelly Yachimovich to examine the possibility of the left-wing party joining forces with the right-leaning Likud-Yisrael Beitenu. Yachimovich has previously vowed her party will only join the opposition.
Netanyahu also spoke at the Knesset inauguration, stressing that “at trying times conflicts must be left aside in favor of unity.”
Speculation is also abound that Netanyahu may be looking at a coalition combination without Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party, the second-largest party in the new Knesset with 19 seats. Instead, he may opt to join with the religious party Habayit Hayehudi, the ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties, Tzipi Livni’s Hatnuah, and Kadima. Such a combination will lead to 69 Knesset members, well above the 61 needed for a majority. Likud sources have not denied this possible scenario, according to Haaretz.
Bulgaria implicates Hezbollah in last summer’s terror attack on Israeli tourists
(JNS.org) The Bulgarian government has announced that it believes Hezbollah was behind the terror attack against an Israeli tour bus that killed five Israelis and one Bulgarian last summer in the seaside resort of Burgas.
At a news conference Tuesday, Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said that investigators found Canadian and Australian passports that belong to two of the attackers.
Bulgarian investigators had “a well-founded assumption that they belonged to the military formation of Hezbollah,” Tsvetanov said of the terrorists, the New York Times reported.
“We have followed their entire activities in Australia and Canada so we have information about financing and their membership in Hezbollah,” Tsvetanov added.
The evidence of Hezbollah’s involvement in a terror attack on European soil is likely to spur a strong debate in the European Union (EU) over whether or not to label Hezbollah a terrorist organization. The U.S. and Israel have been pressuring the EU to blacklist the terror group and go after its vast financial network in Europe. Germany and France, however, have been reluctant to take action over fears of becoming targets and losing leverage in Lebanon.
Commenting on the announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the Bulgarian government for its thorough investigation and urged the EU to take action.
“We hope that the Europeans draw the necessary conclusions as to the true character of Hezbollah,” Netanyahu said.
White House counterterrorism advisor John Brennan reiterated Netanyahu’s sentiment, saying the EU needs to take “proactive action” to uncover and disrupt Hezbollah’s terrorist activities in Europe.
Prominent Jewish groups also spoke out on the issue.
“The EU now has the opportunity to show full support for Bulgaria, and, in doing so, to make clear that there is a high price to pay for murder,” said American Jewish Committee Executive Director David Harris in a press statement.
*
Preceding provided by JNS.org