Episode
How Israel Became the World's Cybersecurity Superpower ft. Refael Franco of Code Blue
- Podcast
- Israeltech
- Published
- Feb 5, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1719
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://www.israeltech.com/
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Summary
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 --- Thank you to our incredible partners for making this all possible! IsraelTech is proud to partner with Deel, the global all-in-one HR and payroll platform for teams in 150+ countries. To support the show, please go check out our partner Deel at: https://www.deel.com/israeltechyt/ IsraelTech is also proud to partner with Wadi Digital. Wadi drives growth for B2B tech, cybersecurity, and SaaS compani…