8200 Unit thwarts an ISIS attack

The soldiers of the 8200 Unit work around the clock to gather intelligence about enemies and to help combat terror. Details of 8200 Unit’s operations aren’t usually revealed to the public, but today is a rare exception. According to a senior official, "The unit provided exclusive intelligence information that prevented an air attack by the ISIS in late 2017 in a Western country."

According to the official, cooperation with the Israeli intelligence community enabled the transfer of information to the local security authorities and led to the arrest of the suspects, which happened prior to the attack when the would-be terrorists were in an advanced stage. "The thwarting of the attack led to the rescue of dozens of innocent people," the senior official stressed, "and demonstrated that 8200 Unit is a player in the intelligence struggle against the ISIS.”

8200 Unit revealed that it, along with the Cyber Defense Unit, also thwarted an Iranian cyber attack against private and public organizations and organizations in Israel. "We were able to thwart the attack due to close monitoring of the Iranian network’s operations and an early identification of attempted attacks in Israel," the source said. "The 8200 Unit, led by the C4i and Cyber Defense Directorate, actively works to identify threats and effectively neutralize them."

8200 Unit’s operational activity, according to the unit, promises cyber intelligence superiority to all levels of the defense establishment: from gathering information about enemies, through cooperation with cyber defense forces, to technological attacks and strikes.

Additionally, the 8200 Unit helps combat soldiers and has a great influence in the tactical, operational, strategic and international areas. Therefore, 8200 Unit works closely with other security and combat forces, which contributes significantly to achieving critical results in the field: "We work closely with all the divisions and commands in all sectors, and the unit's results reflect critical operational relevance and contribute directly to the operations of the forces in the field."

None of these results would be achievable without quality soldiers. "We invest a great deal in manpower and in various important social programs," they noted. "The training and certification process begins at the identification stage, when we identify those who have a high orientation to the absorption of languages."

Afterward, those who are screened for specialized and intensive training, which includes, among other things, learn languages ​​within a few months by reading texts and listening to passages. At the end, they work with the real material and each of them is responsible for translating entire sections and discovering crucial information.

“Every year people full of energy, hunger, and exceptional abilities enter the unit. They bring with them a lot of power and extraordinary ways of thinking, so we are able to handle problems that weren’t able to be solved until now. Soldiers can only perform well when they are given the freedom to operate.”