U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Israel National Cyber Directorate will work together to further cybertechnology and new technologies, as announced in a March 2 news release.
Robert Silvers, DHS under secretary for strategy, policy and plans, met with Gaby Portnoy, director general of INCD, at the Cybertech Global Conference and agreed to work to bolster cooperative research and development, increase cybersecurity and resilience capacity, combat shared cyber threats such as ransomware and strengthen critical infrastructure cybersecurity. Silvers and Portnoy reported multiple partnerships would be carried out to achieve these goals.
"The intended outcomes for this cooperation include promoting the adoption of high-impact and mature cybersecurity technologies; enhancing cybersecurity information sharing and capacity building; and facilitating expert-to-expert exchanges intended to increase collaborative risk management of cyber threats and technological opportunities," the news release said.
DHS has had a long-standing relationship with INCD. One example of this is the Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) program, which was launched by the two agencies in 1977 to promote mutually beneficial research for Israel and the U.S.
One of the new partnerships will build upon the foundation laid down by the original BIRD program and allow for public-private partnerships that harness the innovation and ingenuity of the Israeli and American technology sectors.
