How Israel Became the World's Cybersecurity Superpower ft. Refael Franco of Code Blue

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.

Hosted by Yoel Israel

Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction and Cybertech context

01:30 – Building Israel’s National Cyber Directorate

04:40 – The Iranian attack on Israel’s water infrastructure

08:20 – How cyber crises are detected and stopped

11:30 – Why Israel is a global cyber target

14:10 – From national defense to Code Blue

17:00 – What resilience really means in cyber

20:30 – AI war rooms and crisis decision-making

23:40 – New cyber threat patterns and geopolitics

27:00 – Final thoughts

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