"Mekorot was ready for October 7 aftermath thanks to emergency water plan"

"Mekorot invests about NIS 1.5 billion a year in infrastructure, startup companies and cyber defense," Gil Groskop, VP of Technology at Mekorot, said at Calcalist's Tech TLV conference in his talk entitled "Water security: from the threat of global warming to the next security crisis." "The company has 2,000 employees, and its revenues are 5.1 billion shekels per year. The company supplies about 70% of the water for consumption in Israel, which is managed in 10 control rooms throughout the country."

Groskop stated that "Mekorot's operating concept in emergency rests on three legs: the first is national decentralization of the company's facilities. We operate over 3,000 facilities throughout Israel. The second leg is unmanned facilities. Our network and a great deal of the technology operates unmanned." However, Groskop warns that combining the two legs creates a danger: "The challenges of decentralization and unstaffing lead to a natural difficulty in cyber-protecting our systems."

Gil Groskop, VP of Technology at Mekorot.

The solution offered by Groskop is the third leg in Mekorot's operating concept in times of emergency: "Autonomy - each unit and each end device can operate completely independently." According to Groskop, "If we were hit by a cyber attack or any other emergency event, each unit knows how to function optimally on its own. From the end facilities to the control rooms."

He explained that Mekorot's operating concept in times of emergency, along with the scenarios they practiced for emergencies that include preparation for earthquakes, meant the company was prepared for the aftermath of October 7th.

"In an emergency, the company continues to operate and supply water, we strengthened the cyber system. We increased stocks and technical teams. We have to admit that we were not prepared for all scenarios, such as a scenario of portions of the country being occupied. But the company's high preparedness for an emergency made it possible to establish emergency rooms in October, which in the end were not used." Groskop concluded his talk saying: "And despite all the technology, in the end, like the founding generation, we also rely on excellent employees who proved themselves on October 7."