“You no longer need to organize a plane crash on a building. Now all you have to do is use a keyboard and a cell phone to bring down a democracy ”, announces, in the heart of Manhattan, the city bruised nineteen years ago by the terrorist attack targeting the World Trade Center towers, Dr. Erel Margalit, an Israeli businessman and politician at the head of the JVP fund (Jerusalem Venture Partners), a heavyweight in global venture capital. At the beginning of February, “friend of Emmanuel Macron“- which he is proud to show the exchanges of SMS -, come expressly from the capital of Israel, is to inaugurate the first Cybersecurity Center in the upscale district of Soho.
For the occasion, with the New York City Municipality – which has contributed $ 30 million in public money to the project as a partner – the Israeli fund has seen the big picture. Located fifteen minutes from Wall Street and the financial district -, in front of the brand new building, the actress Gwyneth Paltrow converted into an entrepreneur, with a brand of vagina scent candle (“This Smells Like My Vagina!”) Which has created a buzz in the United States, was invited to inaugurate the Center. “Gwyneth is there as an entrepreneur and because cybersecurity concerns everyone”, says Erel Margalit to The gallery. The link is not obvious but what does it matter; in the city of theaters, all means are good to give an echo to the new cybersecurity positioning of the city.
Recently, with “more than 9,000 start-ups and 333,000 jobs in tech,” New York proclaimed its rank as the new tech capital, via the Tech NYC collective. But now, the most populous megalopolis in the United States is cementing its reputation in terms of cybersecurity. And for good reason.
On the front line of new attacks
Not only is New York the El Dorado of head offices, of which 73 are present in the Fortune 500 ranking, but it also hosts the main world banks – including French groups; Societe Generale, Natixis, Crédit Agricole CIB, BNP Paribas, all ranked on assets in the Top 15 established by The Federal Reserve Board in 2018 -. It is also the city where 23 banking institutions alone stored $ 52.2 billion in deposits in 2019, according to a report by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporations.
At the same time, its financial conquests greatly whet the appetite of hackers. In 2016, the financial sector suffered 65% of …
