Posted on 05/16/2007 9:35:17 PM PDT by tcrlaf
Parliament, ministries, banks, media targeted Nato experts sent in to strengthen defences
A three-week wave of massive cyber-attacks on the small Baltic country of Estonia, the first known incidence of such an assault on a state, is causing alarm across the western alliance, with Nato urgently examining the offensive and its implications.
While Russia and Estonia are embroiled in their worst dispute since the collapse of the Soviet Union, (snip) disabling the websites of government ministries, political parties, newspapers, banks, and companies.
Nato has dispatched some of its top cyber-terrorism experts to Tallinn to investigate and to help the Estonians beef up their electronic defences. "This is an operational security issue, something we're taking very seriously," said an official at Nato headquarters in Brussels. "It goes to the heart of the alliance's modus operandi."
Alarm over the unprecedented scale of cyber-warfare is to be raised tomorrow at a summit between Russian and European leaders outside Samara on the Volga.
While planning to raise the issue with the Russian authorities, EU and Nato officials have been careful not to accuse the Russians directly.
If it were established that Russia is behind the attacks, it would be the first known case of one state targeting another by cyber-warfare.
Relations between the Kremlin and the west are at their worst for years, with Russia engaged in bitter disputes not only with Estonia, but with Poland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, and Georgia - all former parts of the Soviet Union or ex-members of the Warsaw Pact. The electronic offensive is making matters much worse.
Estonia's president, foreign minister, and defence minister have all raised the emergency with their counterparts in Europe and with Nato.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
-—While planning to raise the issue with the Russian authorities, EU and Nato officials have been careful not to accuse the Russians directly.-—
Mustn’t offend the delicate Russian sensibilities.
Why weren't the statues destroyed in 1991?
It won't be the first known case of cyberwar by a long shot. Maybe the first publicized case that the Euro media cared to review.
Certainly the first example of the Euromedia mentioning that their allies, the ex-Soviets are still commies at heart.
Still, it seems to really have disrupted Estonia more than any other attack in memory.
Russia is still a lawless criminal organization, not a country or government.
They weren’t in NATO then. Now we have to go to war so they can act tough... even though they let the Russians rule over them for two generations. WW3 could happen over this?! GTFOH
You can take the Russians out of the evil Soviet Union, but you can’t take the evil out of the Russians.
Trying to reassemble teh Soviet Union, as you woudl expect from a KGB man.
Just more evidence that the Soviet Union is about to be reborn.
Russia knows good and well that Estonia has a mutual defense pact with the USA. If they attack our ally, then Russia will be the ones who started World War III so they could “act tough.” How would they react if we attacked their CSTO allies like Belarus or Uzbekistan? It would mean war.
Somehow I’m lost on why we should ever have a pact with Estonia... they are so small! How can they offer us anything except a fast track to a war with russia?
“If they attack our ally, then Russia will be the ones who started World War III”
The world KNOWS that when a Democrat is in charge, they can do ANYTHING, and get by with it, because our media will do ANYTHING to keep the Dem from looking bad...
The whole point is that we have no intention of allowing Moscow to rebuild the EVIL EMPIRE that Ronald Reagan put an end to. It’s really not about Estonia.
Georgia is eager to host our radars regardless of NATO membership. Indeed, NATO has not been involved in our ABM system plans in Poland and Czech Republic Russia is so upset about.
Putin and his KGB henchmen have already started the first phases of WWIII in Eastern Europe, plus the Kremlin's continuous advanced weapons shipments to the likes of Iran and Syria.
I bet Estonia is running windows os’s on most of their equipment...:)
Heck, I would bet that we could donate enough used stuff that would be put to good use in such a small country.
And if they get swallowed by Soviet... uhm I mean Russia, who’s next? Czechia? Slovakia? Poland?
Same thing happend with Hitler... Noone stopped him when he remilitarised Germany, nor when he annexed Czechoslovakia, we all know how this ended.
Stunning in its brazeness, isn’t it?
Poisoning dissidents.
Killing journalists.
Expropriating companies.
Gas supply extrotion.
Centralizing power.
Harrassing NGOs
Hysterics over very limited misile defenses.
Provocative rhetoric.
Espionage booming.
Cyberwar on a NATO country.
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