Amid the growing sophistication of cyber threats and the increasing risk to critical infrastructure worldwide, the Sectoral Cyber Unit within the Senior Division for Emergency Management, Information Security, and Cyber at Israel’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure recently conducted a large-scale tabletop exercise for the Israeli energy sector.
The exercise was led by Yaron Tzvik, Director of the Ministry’s Emergency, Security and Cyber Division, and Saar Ben Yehuda, Head of Sectoral Cyber, in collaboration with Code Blue, a company specializing in cyber crisis management and organizational preparedness.
Approximately 100 representatives and executives from across the sector participated in the exercise, including representatives from the Israel National Cyber Directorate, the Israel Electric Corporation, Israel Natural Gas Lines (INGL), Noga – Israel Independent System Operator, and the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure.
Participants were challenged with a dynamic cyberattack scenario that escalated into a nationwide cyber crisis. As the situation evolved, they were required to assess the impact of the incident, make critical decisions under pressure, and address a range of technological, operational, and managerial challenges in real time.
The exercise focused on three key objectives:
- Strengthening management preparedness: Evaluating and enhancing decision-making and crisis-management processes at senior management levels in real time.
- Operational continuity: Ensuring the continued operation of energy infrastructure even under a complex cyberattack.
- Coordination and a shared situational picture: Strengthening information sharing and inter-organizational coordination between the private sector and government authorities, with the aim of building comprehensive sector-wide resilience during both routine operations and emergencies.
Refael Franco, CEO and Founder of Code Blue:
“Emergency preparedness is a national priority of the highest order, especially when it comes to ensuring the operational continuity of energy infrastructure, without which the country cannot function. A cyberattack targeting the energy sector is not a theoretical scenario. It is a critical threat that can escalate within minutes, transforming from a technological incident into a national crisis. The ability to successfully manage a crisis of this magnitude depends on organizations’ capacity to work together, make decisions under pressure, and maintain full operational effectiveness even when the situation remains only partially understood. As we have learned from major cyber incidents in the past, only the regular practice of extreme scenarios leads to true preparedness when it matters most. Otherwise, we may discover that the distance between a disruption and a severe national crisis is far smaller than we imagined.”
