Israel's security chief says his agency, the Shin Bet, has gone on the offensive against hackers trying to carry out cyberattacks against Israel on the internet.

The remarks by Nadav Argaman are a rare admission of Israel's use of offensive cyber capabilities.

Argaman spoke at a cyber defense conference in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.

He says that "passive defense" is not enough, and that the Shin Bet studied hackers' strategies and developed "a variety of ways and methods" on how to strike back.

Israeli cyber officials are ordinarily reluctant to discuss the use of offensive capabilities against hackers.

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