“In the AGI era, effective int’l collaboration is key,” says IAI cyber chief

Esti Peshin, VP and General Manager of IAI’s Cyber Division discussed cyber resilience and strategic threats at Cybertech Global 2023

“In the AGI era, effective int’l collaboration is key,” says IAI cyber chief

Photo: Kilad Kavalerchik

Esti Peshin, VP and General Manager of the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Cyber Division, took to the Cybertech Global 2023 main stage to discuss strategic threats and national cyber resilience and in the age of AGI (artificial general intelligence)

“Cyber resilience has evolved. In the past we spoke about hardening targets, then mitigating risks relating to our crown jewels, then about resilience and quick recoveries – then about the resilience of the weakest link in our organization…But this is not enough,” said Peshin.

“In order to be able to effectively withstand attacks in this era, we need effective international collaboration and sharing.

“Cyber is a strategic threat, we are seeing effective attacks against critical infrastructure, largescale espionage, disinformation campaigns, and the proliferation of malware.  In the past few years we’ve seen supply chain attacks and an increase in the buzz, the media that accompanies these attacks.

“Cyber is being utilized more effectively than ever in order to exert sort power in the international arena.

“The bad guys, who have always been quick on the uptake, are using AGI today. The real challenge we’re looking it is how to balance cyber security and business continuity, and how to do it in today’s AGI era.

“Our strength lies in our ability to collaborate, share information. I would say that this is really the only mitigation we have.

Peshin went on to explain, that AGI is a double-edge sword, which – for every advantage, has a disadvantage. For example, it helps detect threats more quickly, but also makes it possible for the threat actors to detect vulnerabilities quickly; it makes better use of data, but can also be used to increase attacks, and so on.

Regarding the next generation Security Operation Centers (SOC), Peshin explained that they “need to handle the entire ecosystem while using AI-powered data. Data is king.”

Another point Peshin stressed is the importance of ethics. “Education, academia, cyber as an innovation driver – you know all of this, but you also need to take into account ethics, this is crucial, in the AGI era, where there’s a disruption of ownership.”

Upon conclusion, Peshin reviewed her main points: “To sum up: the threats are materializing, the AGI era is here. Cyber resilience is a key element and we need it instead of cyber security

We must employ international cooperation for effective resilience.”