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Nato turns its guns on cyber threats
After the Estonia onslaught...

By Reuters

Published: Friday 15 June 2007

Nato defence ministers have agreed fast action is needed to tackle the threat of cyber attacks on key internet sites after Estonia suffered a wave of assaults on its computer networks last month.

A Nato spokesman told a news conference at a two-day meeting in Brussels: "There was sentiment round the table that urgent work is needed to enhance the ability to protect information systems of critical importance."

The attacks on Estonia "were sustained, co-ordinated and focused", said the spokesman, adding: "They had clear national security and economic implications. That will be the subject of work here."

Estonia suffered an onslaught of cyber attacks on private and government internet sites, peaking in May after a decision to move a Soviet-era statue from a square in Tallinn prompted outrage from Russian nationals in Estonia and a diplomatic row with Moscow.

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The attacks appear to have stemmed initially from Russia, though the Kremlin denied it was behind the assaults.

Network specialists said the attacks consisted of a barrage of clicks on a given website, leading to overload. Some sites faced up to 1,000 clicks per second, compared with a normal level of 1,000 to 1,500 clicks per day.

Estonia said the attacks affected thousands of sites and were akin to a terrorist attack in their potential to cripple key infrastructure. It urged Nato to recognise such incidents as an emerging threat.

Speaking during a break in the meeting, Estonian defence minister Jaak Aaviksoo said: "We got more support than we expected, particularly with this acknowledgement of an urgent need to react."

Nato officials said the 26-member alliance, which sent a technology expert to Estonia at the height of the onslaught, would study how it could step up existing work within Nato and national capitals on tackling the cyber threat.