Casualty of War: Your Business
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Estonia's claim that Russia staged a virtual attack this past month against its prime minister's website and other government agencies, followed by cyberassaults on its newspapers and TV stations, schools and banks, if true, would represent the first cyberattack by one nation on another. And, that should be of great concern to American businesses. |
The Kremlin still unhappy that Estonia joined NATO three years ago denies any virtual attack against the country sometimes labeled as E-stonia because of its heavy use of digital technologies.
Indeed, Estonia is the most wired country in the former Soviet bloc, and places 20th among 122 nations ranked by the World Economic Forum in network readiness, which considers a country's environment for information and communications technology as well as the readiness by key stakeholders--individuals, business and government--to adopt and use these technologies. [The U.S. ranked seventh and Russia 70th.]
The assaults came in waves, alarming the Estonians that an initial annoyance might produce real economic damage. Though the attacks have tapered off in the past week, they haven't ended, prompting Estonian officials to declare their country the first to fall victim to a virtual war, according to The New York Times
"If you have a missile attack against, let's say, an airport, it is an act of war," a spokesman for the Estonian Defense Ministry, Madis Mikko, told the newspaper. "If the same result is caused by computers, then how else do you describe that kind of attack?"
If such virtual tactics should be aimed at the United States, no doubt the prime targets wouldn't be government agencies but our network infrastructure and key businesses that serve as the foundation of our virtual economy.
Finding proof whether the Russian government [officially or unofficially] staged these attacks might be impossible to establish. But, as Cyrus Favivar wrote in Slate, Cyberwar I: What the Attacks on Estonia Have Taught Us About Online Combat, Estonia is taking defensive action to protect its cyber infrastructure, including securing chat rooms, monitoring networks and sharing information about attacks and their possible attackers. As Favivar reports, Estonian officials also have created blacklists of originating IP addresses and networks that Estonia banned from accessing its websites.
American businesses should heed Estonia's actions.
