以色列何以成为网络安全领域的霸主

    近几个月，特别是自从西方国家与伊朗达成核协议以来，美国和以色列的关系日渐紧张。尽管如此，美以之间的网络安全合作仍然非常紧密，8月双方甚至就此签署了一项继续合作的联合声明。

    作为一个强敌环伺的区域强国，确保自身生存是以色列的第一要务。经历多年的发展，以色列已经成为全球网络安全、杀毒软件等网络防御技术领域的高科技中心。这也是以色列自立更生政策的一个缩影。自立国以来，以色列就一直面临着四面皆敌的险境。班格里昂大学网络安全研究中心位于以色列比尔谢瓦市，其技术总监都杜·米姆兰指出：“身居中东地区的以色列在现实世界中面临的挑战环境，也反映在网络世界之中。安全虽然是一个在理论上也可以传授的课题，但没有什么能代替我们所积累的大量实际经验。”

    尽管网络安全已经成为一个全球性的课题，但以色列的网络安全技术是从该国对网上网下两个战场的持续警觉自然演变而来的。确保本国人民能够应对各种水平的威胁，已经成为了以色列政府的核心战略，也使得网络安全从一个手工作坊式的小产业，逐步成长为该国经济中一个欣欣向荣的行业。

    以色列的信息安全生态系统包含很多方面，既有像Check Point这样的成熟企业，也有耶路撒冷创投公司网络实验室这种主要面向网络安全领域的风投公司，此外还有班格里昂大学德意志电信创新实验室这样的研究机构。这种雄厚的技术实力吸引了全世界的目光。米姆兰介绍道：“微软等跨国企业认为，以色列是一个人才济济的网络强国。这些公司大多把资金投入到已经收购的现有团队上，由他们建立网络安全研发中心。”

    Pund-IT公司首席分析师查尔斯·金指出，拜政府对科研和科学教育的支持所赐，大多数知名IT企业都在以色列设立了研发机构，从而为以色列培养了坚实的创业精神和创业文化。他表示：“可以说，历史、政治、社会、文化等一系列因素的结合，使以色列自然而然地成为了网络安全创新的中心。这恰逢其时，尤其是考虑到近年来全球网络袭击事件的危害持续增长。”

    查尔斯·金表示，在这样一个几乎每名公民都要义务服兵役的国家，我们很容易就能看到军事和IT部门的联系。随着计算机技术在战争中应用得越来越广，这种联系的力度也在不断加强，同时也有越来越多曾在军队中服役的人员加入了国防和IT部门。

    以色列的云安全公司Adallom就是这样一个例子，该公司成立于2012年，三名创办人都曾在以色列国防军中服役，这家公司目前在以色列和美国已经拥有80余名员工。公司名称源自一个叫做艾德哈洛姆的地方，在1948年的阿以战争中，埃及军队最远曾打到此处，因此这里又被称作“最后一道防线”。Salesforce、微软和谷歌等知名企业的云服务器都在使用Adallom公司的远程服务器安全技术。它的软件能够监控单个员工对云应用的使用，还能搜索到有可能形成安全泄露的使用模式和异常现象。

    虽然以色列国防军和IT部门之间并没有直接的联系，但军事人员流动到IT部门却是常事——特别是一些具备互联网技术的军人，包括网络战争部门的人员。在私人部门中，他们都是非常抢手的人才。

    米姆兰表示：“国防部门的人才与以色列强烈的创业精神结合起来，就是促进网络安全和科技公司不断成长的完美配方。”

    这种联系在过去几十年里不断加深。早在1993年，位于特拉维夫的Check Point公司就开发出了FireWall-1防火墙，它也是世界上最早的联网电脑防护方案之一。这款防御软件是由以色列企业家吉尔·舍伍德开发的。他早年曾效力于以色列国防军专门收集敌方信号情报的8200部队。在舍伍德的领导下，这家公司成长为以色列最大的科技企业。Check Point是最早发现电脑网络防护需求的公司，更重要的是，它是在大多数人还没有用上互联网的时候，就填补了这一需求空白。

    休斯敦Alert Logic公司的威胁研究主任斯蒂芬·科蒂表示：“直到1994年，美国的思科公司还没有进入这个市场。在其他人还在依赖命令进行控制的时候，Check Point公司已经推出了一套防火墙方案来给企业提供保护，而且还开发了一个GUI界面。”

    20多年后，又有20多家以色列公司追随Check Point的脚步，进入了网络安全行业，使该行业成为了“以色列硅谷”的一个领军产业。据以色列国家网络局介绍，以色列目前占据全球网络安全技术市场10%的份额，2014年，以色列的网络安全软件销售额达到了600亿美元。

    凭借这样漂亮的数字，以色列的网络安全公司也吸引了西方科技公司的注意。比如今年7月，有消息称微软计划出资3.2亿美元收购Adallom。在此次收购之前，Adallom已经在三年内获得了大约5000万美元的融资。Adllom目前已经把总部搬到了加州门洛帕克，但仍在特拉维夫保留了办事机构，这里也将成为微软在以色列的网络安全业务中心。另据报道，在此次交易前，微软已经以2亿美元的价格收购了以色列安全软件开发商Aorato。

    微软并不是唯一一家在以色列有大动作的西方公司。上个月，英国微芯片设计商Arm Holdings公司宣布将在以色列建立新的研发中心。而就在此前，该公司刚刚收购了以色列的Sansa Security公司，这是一家专门从事物联网、移动信托和网络安全技术的公司，这笔交易的价格据称为1.003亿美元。

    这些交易说明了以色列网络安全技术的价值有多高。米姆兰表示：“以色列是少数成为全球网络技术领头羊的国家之一。危险四伏的网络世界十分需要这样的领导力。”

    当然，随着网络战越来越成为战争的常规手段，以色列在该领域的领导力也有助于该国的持久生存。这就是为什么以色列要大力让学生为打赢未来的网络战作准备。科蒂表示：“以色列从小就教学生学习编程与应用，通过这种做法，他们已经在培养下一代网络战士。”（财富中文网）

    译者：朴成奎

    审校：任文科

    In recent months, and especially since the nuclear deal with Iran, there has been a strain between the U.S. and Israel. Despite this, one area where the ties remain close is cyber security, with the two parties even cosigning a statement committing continued cooperation on that front last month.

    A regional power devoted to ensuring its own survival, Israel has burgeoned into a high tech epicenter built around Internet security, anti-virus software, and other cyber defense technologies. Much of this is an extension of its self-reliance, and the added fact that since the creation of modern Israel, the nation has faced enemies on its borders. “The challenging environment Israel faces in the Middle East in the physical world has reflections also on the cyber world,” says Dudu Mimran, CTO of the Cyber Security Research Center at Ben-Gurion University, located in Beer Sheva, Israel. “Security is a subject that can be taught theoretically, but nothing is a substitute for a real hands-on experience and we’ve got lots of it.”

    And while cyber security has become worldwide issue, Israel’s cyber security expertise has evolved naturally from its constant vigilance, both online and off. Ensuring that its people remain able to take on threats and at all levels has become center to Israeli governmental strategy, and transformed what began as a cottage industry into a thriving sector of the nation’s economy.

    Israel’s information security ecosystem has many aspects. There are mature companies such as Check Point; there are venture capitalists which focus on cyber such as Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP) Cyber Labs; and there are research collaborations such as the Deutsche Telekom Innovation Laboratories activity at Ben-Gurion University. This array of expertise has turned heads, worldwide. “Microsoft “MSFT” and many other multi-national companies identified that Israel is a cyber powerhouse with the right talent,” says Mimran. “They invest money mostly in already acquiring existing teams to setup cyber security research and development centers.”

    According to Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT, government support of science and science education have resulted in most major IT vendors placing research facilities in Israel, which has in turn nurtured a strong entrepreneurial spirit and culture. “You could argue that this combination of factors—historical, political, societal and cultural—have all combined to make Israel a natural epicenter of security innovation,” he says. “It is certainly timely, especially considering the growing power and threat of global cyber attacks.”

    And in a nation where nearly every citizen faces compulsory military service, it easy to see the ties between the military and the IT sector. The increasing use of computing technologies in warfare has strengthened those dynamics, as has the regular migration of former military personnel into defense and IT industry positions, says King.

    One such example is Adallom, maker of cloud security, which was founded in 2012 by three former members of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and has some 80 employees in offices in Israel and the United States. The company gets its name from the Ad Halom, the site near Ashdod that was the furthest point reached by the Egyptian Army in the 1948 Arab-Israeli Wars, and is otherwise known as the “the last line of defense.”Adallom has developed security technology for remote servers, including those running Salesforce’s, Microsoft’s or Google’s cloud services. Its software can monitor the use of cloud application by individual employees, and this includes looking for patterns and anomalies that could be security breaches.

    While there is no direct link between the IDF and the IT sector, there is a flow of people who graduate from certain military units—notably those that deal with Internet-based technologies including cyber warfare—and then become highly desired talent in the private sector.

    “Connecting the talent pool coming out of defense organizations with the strong entrepreneurial spirit that exists here, and you get the perfect ingredient for a powerhouse, in terms of cyber security startups and technology companies,” says Mimran.

    And that connection has been making strides in digital security for decades. For instance, In 1993, Tel Aviv-based Check Point developed FireWall-1, one of the very first protection solutions for Internet-connected computers. The defensive software was developed by Israeli-entrepreneur Gil Shwed, who served in the IDF’s Unit 8200—which is responsible for collecting signal intelligence—and grew the company into one of the country’s biggest tech giants. Check Point foresaw a need for protecting computer networks, and more importantly, filled that need before most people were even online.

    “America’s Cisco didn’t even enter the market until 1994,” says Internet security professional Stephen Coty, director of threat research at Houston-based Alert Logic. “Check Point introduced a firewall solution to protect enterprise and came out with a GUI interface when others were still relying on command line controls.”

    More than twenty years later, there more than two dozen other Israeli firms have followed Check Point’s lead into the cyber security space, a leading industry in Silicon Wadi, the country’s own version of Silicon Valley. According to Israel’s National Cyber Bureau, Israel accounted for 10 percent of global security technology, and sales of its security software topped $60 billion in 2014.

    With these numbers, Israeli security firms have caught the attention of western tech companies. For instance, in July it was revealed that Microsoft plans to acquire Adallom for $320 million. Prior to the acquisition, Adallom had secured around $50 millionin funding over three years. The company, which is currently headquartered in Menlo Park retains offices in Tel Aviv, and will become the center for Microsoft’s security business in Israel. And the acquisition also follows Microsoft’s purchase of Israel-based security software developer Aorato for a reported $200 million.

    But the Windows developer isn’t the only big named outsider getting active in Israel. Last month, British micro-chip designer Arm Holdings also announced that it will build a new hub in Israel, following its purchase of Israel-based Sansa Security, a provider of Internet of Things (IoT) and mobile trust and security technologies, for a reported $100.3 million.

    These exits demonstrate just how valuable Israel’s cyber security expertise has become. “Israel is one of the few countries positioned to become a worldwide cyber leader,” says Mimran. “In the world of cyber, (where there is a) high threat level, such leadership is much needed.”

    And of course, as cyber warfare continues to become a conventional tactic, Israel’s leadership in the space can also help it continue to survive. That’s one reason why the contry continue to focus on preparing its students for future cyber conflicts. “They are teaching coding and application at an early age,” says Coty. “In this way they are already raising the next generation of cyber warriors.”