Cyber Expert Benny Meir Warns Foreign Powers Are Gathering Data in Israel
Cybersecurity expert Benny Meir warned at a New York conference that foreign actors are gathering data in Israel, stressing the urgent need for sovereign cloud and AI infrastructure.
Cybersecurity expert and Modelyo founder Benny Meir warned during a conference in New York that foreign actors, specifically China, are already actively gathering sensitive data inside Israel and Europe. Speaking in an interview with journalist Yoav Limor, Meir addressed the strategic vulnerability of cloud infrastructure and the quiet cyber war threatening critical assets.
The Strategic Cloud Gap
Discussing Israel's position in the global artificial intelligence race, Meir noted that while the United States relies on giants like Azure and AWS and China on Alibaba and Tencent, Israel and Europe lack native hyperscalers. "You have to trust a Chinese or American company," Meir stated, warning that Israel must urgently develop independent cloud and AI infrastructure rather than remaining entirely dependent on foreign providers.
Meir highlighted the growing risks surrounding data privacy as language models and autonomous software agents proliferate. Describing the cloud as a "black box," he emphasized that organizations frequently lack awareness of how their proprietary data is processed and stored, exposing intellectual property and sensitive systems to external manipulation.
The Silent Threat to Critical Infrastructure
Reflecting on the digital campaigns surrounding the October 7 attacks, where thousands of automated bots manipulated public narratives worldwide, Meir cautioned that future conflicts will increasingly leverage offensive AI. He outlined a scenario where hostile entities could systematically compromise lighting, cameras, water systems, and hospitals without deploying a single soldier on the ground.
"The next October 7 will come to us; we must not be caught by surprise," Meir warned. He pointed to a growing alignment between nations such as China, Pakistan, Iran, Russia, and Turkey cooperating in the cyber domain against Western democracies.
Toward Technological Sovereignty
Meir explained that he founded Modelyo following the outbreak of the war after recognizing severe domestic limitations in computing power and heavy reliance on external vendors like Microsoft. His firm aims to ensure that data remains fully encrypted and controlled exclusively by critical infrastructure operators.
Concluding his remarks, Meir stressed that technological independence is vital for Israel's long-term security, urging the nation to accelerate preparations for the upcoming post-quantum cryptographic era and place its trust in local innovation and the IDF.
