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.

[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.