In 2007, Estonia suffered a catastrophic cyberattack that is widely attributed to Russia. Online banking went down, as did most ATMs. Government services were unavailable, civil servants were unable to communicate electronically and media organisations were silenced.
Estonia was then – as it is now – a leading cybersecurity power – yet it still found itself vulnerable. Just over a year later, during Russia’s invasion of Georgia, accompanying cyberattacks had already grown in sophistication since those levelled at Estonia. According to Ian West, head of the Nato Cyber Security Centre, that operation was the first in which cyberwarfare was used in combination with conventional military forces.
The 2007 attack on Estonia “was a watershed moment when the world woke up and saw exactly what cyberattacks could do”, West told New Statesman Spotlight. “Many of us have known for a long time that it is very unlikely that any conflict in the future will not contain cyberattacks.” But 16 years is a long time in technological development: cybersecurity…
