How Israel Became the World's Cybersecurity Superpower
Most cyber conversations focus on prevention. Refael Franco focuses on what comes after. In this Cybertech interview, the Code Blue CEO & founder and former national cyber leader shares firsthand experience from some of Israel’s most serious cyber incidents.
Before founding Code Blue, Refael Franco helped build Israel’s national cyber defense from the ground up. As one of the early leaders of the Israel National Cyber Directorate, he was responsible for protecting civilian infrastructure at a time when cyber threats were becoming very real.
At Cybertech, Franco shared what it was like to manage a national cyber crisis in real time, including the Iranian attack that targeted Israel’s water systems. From the first hours of detection to hundreds of decisions made under pressure, this conversation offers a rare look into how cyber crises are actually handled when failure is not an option.
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This Week in Israeli Tech News
Apple brought Israeli audio AI startup Q ai into the fold, adding a team focused on making devices understand speech in even the most challenging conditions.
Led by CEO Aviad Maizels, alongside his co-founders Dr. Yonatan Wexler and Dr. Avi Barliya, Q ai has been quietly building technology that collapses the gap between human intent and digital response. The acquisition deepens Apple’s long-standing strategy of investing in “invisible interfaces” that feel natural, intuitive, and effortless at global scale.
Tomorrow.io is advancing how the world senses and acts on weather, combining AI-native forecasting with its own satellite infrastructure to support real-time decision-making across industries and governments.
Led by founders Shimon Elkabetz, Itai Zlotnik, Rei Goffer, and the broader Tomorrow.io team, the company is moving into its next phase with DeepSky - a new low-Earth-orbit satellite constellation designed to dramatically increase atmospheric data density and refresh rates for AI-driven forecasting.
Semperis expanded its identity-first cyber resilience platform with the acquisition of MightyID, strengthening protection across hybrid environments spanning Active Directory, Entra ID, Okta, and Ping.
The move reflects the growing reality of multi-cloud identity complexity and positions Semperis to support organizations before, during, and after identity-driven attacks. With MightyID’s Okta and Ping expertise now integrated, Semperis continues to push deeper into real-world identity security.
ORION closed a $32 million funding round to accelerate its vision for data loss prevention beyond static policies.
Led by CEO Nitay Milner and CTO Jonathan Kreiner, the company is replacing manual rule-based DLP with AI agents and proprietary LLMs that understand why data is moving in real time. Already deployed across large enterprises, ORION is addressing one of the most persistent pain points in security operations as data flows accelerate across SaaS, AI tools, and distributed teams.
Funding led by Norwest, with participation from IBM, PICO Venture Partners, Lama Partners, and Underscore VC
Medtronic announced its intent to acquire CathWorks, an Israeli medtech company applying AI and computational science to coronary diagnostics.
Led by CEO Ramin Mousavi, CathWorks developed the FFRangio system, enabling physicians to assess coronary physiology directly from routine angiograms. The deal, valued at up to $585 million, builds on a multi-year partnership and brings Israeli-developed AI deeper into global cath labs.
Culture Corner
Israeli Music Icon Matti Caspi Dies at 76
Legendary Israeli singer and composer Matti Caspi has died at the age of 76 after a long battle with cancer. Caspi, who wrote and produced more than 1,000 songs, shaped generations of Israeli music and culture. He began his career during his military service, later collaborating with Israel’s biggest musical names and performing for IDF soldiers during the Yom Kippur War alongside Leonard Cohen. In recent years, he raised $1.5 million for experimental medical treatments and continued creating music, including a 2023 album dedicated to hostage Guy Illouz. President Isaac Herzog called Caspi “one of the greatest Israeli composers of our generation.” Caspi is survived by his wife, Raquel, and four children.
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