Cyberwar

[grysar]

Russia may be waging a form of cyber-warfare against Estonia.

Assuming for the moment that this is a move by the Russian government. I think this is on the whole a bad move by Russia. There's some successful intimidation but it also is going to piss people off. It also sounds like Estonia is weathering it. But the real net gain is for Nato. We're getting a chance to play defense on cyber-warfare when nothing is on the line militarily. Presumably Russia isn't using all their best stuff, but it still represents a value source of both practice and knowledge. We're going to be better prepared next time.

Also, props to Estonia. They seemed to react quickly and in smart ways. I hope Nato will help them with repairs. I don't think any large scale retaliation would be a good idea, but they are our ally and they deserve some aid.

Comments

[corneredangel.livejournal.com]

Assuming for the moment that this is a move by the Russian government.

Tacit approval - probably; direct involvement - highly unlikely. And from the Russian perspective (...and from the perspective of a given Russian participant), it may not be the "smartest" move, but it's certainly worth it under the circumstances.

[grysar.livejournal.com]

Well, it does sound like this is playing out differently than when Chinese or Korean hackers go after Japanese sites. Essentially the read I get is that it's more organized and more professional. (Although as the article notes, there's certainly some capacity being held in reserve). I could be wrong on that.

So I don't doubt that there's some plausible deniability involved. But it sounds like this is being done by someone that has purposefully developed some cyberwarfare capacity. I'd tend to think that implies some level of government ties.

[lampbane.livejournal.com]

Worth it? I may not be an "expert" in these political affairs, but the article states that Russia's been at odds with a lot of countries lately and that this whole thing was exasperated by a statue.

A STATUE???

(Not that I agree with removing it, but uh... a statue?)

[unreason.livejournal.com]

It may be worth it from a message standpoint. Remember that the EU's been complaining about how Estonia is part of the EU and it's all for one and one for all, and stop picking on our membership. This sends a message that Putin knows that with the total oil lock he has on Europe (and Europe's utter failure to stand up for themselves) that he can pretty much do whatever he wants and the EU's going to pretend that nothing happened, just like they do whenever another journalist gets mysteriously poisoned. And remember that this is good practice for Russia too. NATO may be able to practice defense, but Russia gets to practice offense.

[grysar.livejournal.com]

Well, again assuming it's at least quasi-governmental, the question is whether they want a harrassment tool or an asymmetrical warfare tool.

If they want a tool that's useful in a more serious clash, then I think the loss of the element of surprise is greater than the benefit gained from experience. Better to practice where lots of people aren't watching.