Ayalon: Cyberspace attacks should be treated as terrorism

Referring to recent credit card hacker incidents, Deputy FM says Israel has capability to hit back at those that try to harm it.

Danny Ayalon 311 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Danny Ayalon 311
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Breaches of Israel’s cyberspace are a breach of sovereignty similar to terrorism and should be treated as such, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said on Saturday.
Ayalon, referring to the recent cyber theft of thousands of credit card numbers, said Israel had the active ability to hit back at those trying to harm it, and “no agency or hacker will be immune from a response.”
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Speaking at an event in Beersheba, he said the theft of the credit card numbers was a warning sign, but that Israel – as one of most advanced countries in the world in terms of cyber security – knew how to protect itself.
Israel needed to take an example from the US, which recently declared that it reserved the right to respond to cyberspace attacks – seen as acts of war – with conventional weapons, Ayalon said.