Former Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin spoke Thursday at a Tel Aviv University technology and security conference on what he called the "cyber battleground."
Diskin said that Syrian President Bashar Assad's effortsto crack down on dissidents include, for example, applying various technological measures, including forming a "cyber army."
Damascus is not alone in its attempts to control cyberspace, Diskin said: Iran isalso applying what it calls a "defense of virtual assets strategy"; China has formed a "cyber commando" – and has, according to the former intelligence chief, one of the biggest "hacker forces" known – and Russia is also employing various cyber tactics against its enemies, both foreign and domestic.
"Cyberspace has become another primary battlefield. This is not just another threat, it's a reality. Modern countries' near-complete dependency on computerized systems and the flow of information, makes them more vulnerable," he said.