The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) is working to enhance its cyber-warfare abilities after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted to a growing cyber threat from Iran.

The IDF is planning to invest an approximate amount of 1 billion shekels (262 million U.S. dollars) to support special units dedicated to cyber-related activities and recruit computer- oriented nominees to its lines.

"This is not just an IDF issue, but one which affects the state as a whole," a top senior source told the Ha'aretz daily on Tuesday.

"I think the importance of this sphere in the defense work, especially in technological-advanced Israel... is quite evident," he added.

A special military ceremony will take place Wednesday to award commendation to 12 soldiers engaged in the army's cyber-defense activities.

Netanyahu said Sunday that Iranian hackers are trying to hack scores of Israeli computer networks on a daily basis.

"There is an increase in attempts to carry out cyber-attacks," Netanyahu admitted during the weekly cabinet meeting.

"Just as we have an Iron Dome system against missiles and barbed wire fences against infiltrators and terrorists, we will have a defense system against cyber-attacks," Netanyahu added.

Last week, American officials cautioned that Iranian-affiliated hackers would try to perpetrate "cyber-Pearl Harbor" against U.S. interests, after a series of cyber-attacks in the United States and the Gulf.

In recent weeks computer networks belonging to a number of American banks were hacked into, and in August a computer virus inserted into Saudi Arabia's Aramco oil company network reportedly destroyed data on 30,000 computers.

Earlier this year, the Israel Security Agency (ISA) said it had increased monitoring of local banking networks in order to foil potential cyber-attacks that could wreak havoc on the nation's financial and economic institutions.

The ISA has redefined the banking institutions' security definition as "essential," over concerns that such hacker attacks, primarily aimed at the large banks, could cause massive damage to the country's cash flow.

The higher classification would allow the ISA to gain direct supervision over their electronic security assets, the local Ha' aretz daily reported in May.

Earlier this year, a lower-level cyber skirmish erupted between Israeli and Saudi hackers and lasted for over a month. The public coding war began when a Saudi hacker exposed in a downloadable file some 14,000 Israeli citizens' credit card numbers and personal information. Israel's national airline El Al and its stock exchange websites also took a hit from the hackers.

The attack led to the formation of a counter Israeli hacking group, who claimed "payback" attacks on Saudi credit card sites.

The Israeli group claimed that along with the credit card information, they also managed to access personal data of the Saudi card-holders.