JERUSALEM, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel has become one of the five leading countries in the field of cyber security.
Netanyahu told a cyber conference in the Tel Aviv University that eight years ago, the government set a goal of making Israel one of the top five leading countries in cyber security. "We have achieved this goal and even surpassed it," he said.
In 2017, the Israeli cyber security industry witnessed an export valued at 3.8 billion U.S. dollars, Netanyahu said.
"There are about 420 Israeli cyber companies, 50 development centers of international companies, and Israeli academia represents about 10 percent of the world's research," he said.
Netanyahu played a simulation on a big screen, showing bank accounts can be frozen easily and private information can be stolen and sold.
"This is not a theoretical scenario," he warned, adding that the main threats are being posed by countries.
"We have amazing opportunities and we can take advantage of them, but we also have enormous challenges, and must deal with them," he said.
