Cyber Self Defence

Estonia, a country of 1.4 million people, including a large ethnic Russian minority, is one of the most wired societies in Europe and a pioneer in the development of "e-government". Being highly dependent on computers, it is also highly vulnerable to cyber-attack.

In May 2007 ,while Russia and Estonia were embroiled in their worst dispute since the collapse of the Soviet Union, a row erupted over the Estonians' removal of the Bronze Soldier Soviet war memorial in central Tallinn, the country subsequently got subjected to a barrage of cyber warfare, disabling the websites of government ministries, political parties, newspapers, banks, and companies.

The main targets were the websites of:

· the Estonian presidency and its parliament

· almost all of the country's government ministries

· political parties

· three of the country's six big news organisations

· two of the biggest banks; and firms specializing in communications

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