IEC's CyberGym solutions expands to Czech Republic in the fight against cyber attacks
The CyberGym provides courses in real-time response to attacks against sensitive infrastructure like airports, roads, power plants, water facilities and trains.
By SHARON UDASINThe logo for the cyber hacking group ‘Anonymous’ is seen on computer screens.(photo credit: REUTERS)
Training workers to defend infrastructure and energy systems from unwanted cyber intrusions, the Israel Electric Corporation’s CyberGym is now expanding its business to the Czech Republic.The CyberGym, launched in Israel in October 2013, has since been providing courses in real-time response to attacks against sensitive infrastructure like airports, roads, power plants, water facilities and trains.A subsidiary of the IEC along with its partner Liacom Systems, CyberGym signed a contract with Corpus Solutions to build the $10 million Czech Republic training center, the IEC announced on Monday. The facility, to be called Cyber- Gym Europe, is slated to open in the first quarter of 2016.This latest announcement follows a similar contract signed with the Portuguese Electricity Company earlier this year. CyberGym has also received orders for cyber protection training from financial entities and members of the energy sector for 2016, and is negotiating with other strategic partners around the world, the IEC added.“With the upcoming establishment of the training facility in the Czech Republic, we are looking forward to this defining moment in establishing a global chain of training arenas,” said IEC CEO Ofer Bloch. “The training facilities will provide an arena for a large number of sectors and have the singular ability of supplying hands-on training to cater to the needs of each of these unique sectors – energy, industry, telecom, financial, etc.”CyberGym plans to continually expand its training methods, developing and advancing new products to help cope with cyber attacks, Bloch added.The facility in the Czech Republic will be serving customers not only in that country, but also in Germany, Austria, Poland and other Central European nations, according to Gilad Yoshai, CyberGym’s vice president of sales and business development.“The CyberGym training facility has been thoroughly tested for a year-and-a-half by companies in a variety of energy, banking, insurance, and security markets in Europe,” Yoshai said. “With the establishment of the facility in the Czech Republic, CyberGym will obtain an important milestone in establishing a network of training arenas throughout the world as part of the company’s development strategy.”