Photos by Eitan Vitkon
TEL AVIV, Israel (Press Release) — A groundbreaking new exhibition will be launched and showcased at the CyberWeek conference next week, presenting leading Israeli cyber technologies in an original way through ancient historical locks collected from around the world. The exhibition, “Protecting the World: Israeli CyberSecurity Technologies,” is an initiative of the Israel National Cyber Directorate to showcase Israel’s contribution to global defense against cyber-attacks. It aims to educate the Israeli public about cyber security and shows Israel’s defense capabilities in the global cyber arena.
The exhibition features 25 Israeli cyber technologies, each represented by a rare lock, some are over 2,000 years old, taken from a unique collection curated by Israeli collector Eran Landau. Each lock has a historical story behind it and serves as a metaphor for the defense mechanism and added value of each technology. The locks differ in design, locking, and unlocking mechanisms, reflecting the culture and history of the era in which they were created. This exhibition offers a unique and first-of-its-kind approach to making the abstract field of cyber security accessible through art.
“The connection between stunning historical sculptural locks from hundreds and thousands of years ago, collected from around the world, and cutting-edge innovative technology vividly illustrates the link between the past and the future,” says Gaby Portnoy, Head of the Israel National Cyber Directorate. “The exhibition provides an excellent opportunity to make the world of cyber security accessible to the general public, showcasing Israel’s significant contribution to advancing and developing the field and protecting the world from digital threats.”
The exhibition is planned to be displayed at various locations worldwide, as well as in museums and public spaces.
The Israeli cyber technologies featured in the exhibition focus on protecting and maintaining public trust and data integrity, safeguarding critical and industrial infrastructure, financial and private systems, and are currently deployed in hundreds of thousands of systems worldwide. Among the Israeli-originated companies in the exhibition: Check Point, CyberArk, Cybereason, Deep Instinct, Waterfall, Cato Networks, Authomize, AccuBeat, SIGA, NanoLock, Vicarius, SentinelOne, NSKnox, Disruptive Bytes, Cyberbit, Pentera, Cydome, Cinten, Sepio, Israel Electric Corporation, Rafael, Sygnia, Elta, and BIGID.
Data from the National Cyber Directorate shows that the cyber industry continues to be a driving force in the Israeli economy. Despite a significant decline in investments in many high-tech sectors over the past two years both in Israel and globally, the relative decline in investments in Israeli cyber companies in 2023 was lower. According to the data, 8 out of the 10 top M&A exits (over $100 million) of Israeli based companies were in the cybersecurity field. The Israeli cybersecurity sector saw Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) exits surge to $2.8 billion, representing 80% of all M&A exits in Israeli high-tech for that year. Also, the amount of private funding raised by Israeli cybersecurity companies is approximately $1.9 billion, representing 24% of the total private funding raised in the Israeli high-tech industry for 2023.
The exhibition was photographed by the international photography artist Eitan Vitkon and curated by curator Doron Polak.
The exhibition has been launched in the presence of senior figures from the cyber industry in Israel and worldwide as part of the CyberWeek 2024 conference, held from June 24th to 26th, 2024, at Tel Aviv University. It will be displayed throughout the conference.
*
Preceding provided by Tel Aviv University