Israeli army: Use of cyber-warfare common

JERUSALEM - The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Sunday said that the army is using cyber-warfare to curb attacks on Israel's cyber space and to attack enemies on the net.

In a statement released on the IDF's website, the Israeli military admits that this kind of war is seen in the same light as the other battlefields, and has been used in intelligence operations.

"The IDF has been engaged in cyber activity consistently and relentlessly, gathering intelligence and defending its own cyber space. Additionally if necessary the cyber space will be used to execute attacks and intelligence operations," the statement read.

IDF Operations Department defined in a document the essence of what is considered cyber warfare and the methods and goals of this unit.

"There are many, diverse, operational cyber warfare goals, including thwarting and disrupting enemy projects that attempt to limit operational freedom of both the IDF and the State of Israel, as well as incorporating cyber warfare activity in completing objectives at all fronts and in every kind of conflict," according to the statement.

It's the first time the IDF brings out in the open the usage of cyber-war against enemy nations.

The statement coincides with a recent cyber-attack against Iranian computers, through a virus called "Flame" that briefly hit Iran's oil industry last week.

Flame malware is designed to carry out cyber espionage and is capable of stealing valuable information.

According to the virus' revealer, internet security company Kaspersky, Flame also shared some features with Stuxnet.

Iran announced in October 2010 that it had detected and thwarted the Stuxnet virus aimed at infecting the country's nuclear plant system.

According to Iranian intelligence service, Stuxnet had infected 30,000 IP addresses in Iran, including personal computers of the staff at the country's first nuclear power plant, Bushehr. Tehran also claimed that Israel was behind the infection of its industrial sites.