Category Archives: estonia

Pentagon’s next cyber policy guru predicts more collective responses in cyberspace

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State-sponsored cyberattacks against just one victim nation at a time could soon provoke a global response, if a growing number of officials around the world have their way. As the Pentagon has experimented with new authorities allowing U.S. Cyber Command to be more offensive in cyberspace, key officials have suggested there is a groundswell of support for multi-nation countermeasures in the digital age. Thomas Wingfield, the incoming deputy assistant secretary of Defense for cyber policy, told CyberScoop that alliances could be a more successful way to deter hackers and strike back when they infiltrate sensitive networks. “I think that’s a more effective way to solve the problem, and I think that is the general [direction] of international law,” said Wingfield, who is still employed at National Defense University. “But I would also say we’re not there yet and states are in the process of moving international law in that direction.” For months now, the U.S. […]

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U.S. agrees to help Baltic states bolster grid cybersecurity

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The United States on Sunday agreed to work more closely with three Baltic countries to protect their electric sectors from cyberattacks. “We see a crucial role that U.S. could play in assisting the Baltic states with strategic and technical support,” reads the declaration from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and officials from Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, according to multiple news outlets. The four countries will establish a platform for sharing cybersecurity expertise over the next six months, the AFP reported. The agreement is a recognition of the need to fortify energy infrastructure that could be a prime target for hackers in the event of geopolitical conflict. Russia’s neighbors are very familiar with that dynamic: Kremlin-linked hackers cut power in parts of Ukraine in 2015 and 2016. The U.S. announcement with Baltic states was short on specifics. Spokespeople for officials in all four governments did not respond to requests for comment. The document […]

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Estonia debuts first-ever cyber diplomacy training

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Dozens of NATO and EU diplomats who focus on cybersecurity issues descended upon Estonia last week for their first-ever “summer school” training on cyber diplomacy. The sessions focused on lessons learned from previous international negotiations on cybersecurity issues, technical developments on the latest cyberthreats, and international norms and laws in cyberspace. For five days the 80 diplomats participated with cybersecurity experts and academics in conversations and a simulation of a real-world international cybersecurity crisis, Britta Tarvis, media adviser for the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told CyberScoop. The objective was to help diplomats from EU and NATO countries get “a more in-depth understanding” of cybersecurity strategies and technological developments, and how those topics affect the implementation of norms and international law, Tarvis said. Twenty-six countries were represented. The development of what is accepted nation-state behavior in cyberspace is still in its nascent stages. It was only five years ago that NATO incorporated cyberattacks into its collective defense agreement, for instance, […]

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Kremlin interference in EU vote is likely, says Estonian spy agency

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Estonia’s foreign intelligence agency says it is “very likely” that the Russian government will try to interfere in the European Union parliamentary elections in May. The Kremlin’s meddling will likely focus on France, Germany and Italy, which hold the most EU parliamentary seats, in a concerted effort to “secure as many seats as possible for pro-Russian or euro-skeptical political forces,” the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service said Tuesday in an external security report focused on threats from Russia. The European Parliament’s status as the only EU institution directly elected by the people makes it a prime target for Russian influence operations, the EFIS said, adding that the proportional election system favors marginal parties and that Members of European Parliament (MEPs) can be used as mouthpieces for Russian propaganda. The Kremlin has wooed European politicians by inviting them to a 2016 conference in the Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, the report […]

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Estonia’s Volunteer Cyber Militia

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Interesting — although short and not very detailed — article about Estonia’s volunteer cyber-defense militia. Padar’s militia of amateur IT workers, economists, lawyers, and other white-hat types are grouped in the city of Tartu, about 65 miles from the Russian border, and in the capital, Tallinn, about twice as far from it. The volunteers, who’ve inspired a handful of similar… Continue reading Estonia’s Volunteer Cyber Militia→

The reason NATO’s recent cyber wargames were so unique

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European and U.S. cyber warriors wargamed unique responses to nation-state attacks in a recent training exercise held by NATO, allowing operators inside simulated civilian networks that illustrate the tactical complexity and legal gray areas that dog cyberwarfare operations in real life. Dubbed Crossed Swords, the exercise was conducted on computer networks of civilian infrastructure providers like phone and power companies in order to simulate an attack hardened military systems. “What we wanted to do is match the real-world environment in which cyber operations take place and show the interdependencies between military and civilian networks,” said Aare Reintam, project manager of technical exercises at the center, “The legal issue were maybe two percent” of what went into the exercise. The exercise, staged by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Tallinn, Estonia earlier this month, comes as European countries like Sweden and Italy gear up to combat possible Russian […]

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Estonia considers launching its own national cryptocurrency; ECB says no

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Estonia’s e-Residency program managing director, Kaspar Korjus, has outlined a detailed plan to introduce the first government-backed cryptocurrency, called “estcoin.” The proposal to institute a national cryptocurrency was first made… Continue reading Estonia considers launching its own national cryptocurrency; ECB says no→

Lessons Learned from the Estonian National ID Security Flaw

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Estonia recently suffered a major flaw in the security of their national ID card. This article discusses the fix and the lessons learned from the incident: In the future, the infrastructure dependency on one digital identity platform must be decreased,… Continue reading Lessons Learned from the Estonian National ID Security Flaw→