The WannaCry cyberattack in May 2017 was one of the broadest attacks in recent years. An estimated 230,000 computers in 150 countries using the old Microsoft XP operating system were affected. The victims included hospitals in the UK, Spanish communications company Telefonica, German railway company Deutsche Bahn, delivery company FedEx, and many other concerns. North Korea was behind the attack. Estimates of the damage caused range from several hundred million dollars to several billion dollars.
“Some of those damaged by the attack were totally unaware that they had been damaged. Some did not want to report it, while others wanted to report it, but didn’t know to whom they should report. The agency responsible for cyber defense in countries that were attacked had no effective way of spreading the information about the attack to the parties involved,” says Israel National Cyber Directorate Technology Unit chief executive director Hudi Zack in order to demonstrate the need for a government agency to connect the state agencies and economic concerns and enable them to deal effectively and quickly with cyber attacks.
An existing agency operating as part of the Cyber Directorate,…
