Russia's opening shot in the cyber Cold War
- IT TOPICS:Government & Regulation, Networking, Security
The once-warm relations between the U.S. and Russia have turned decidedly cool -- so much that a new Cold War may be on the way. This time around, though, the war may be fought with bytes rather than bullets.
In fact, it appears that Russia may have already launched a small cyberwar against Estonia, previously part of the Soviet Union. Russia has never been happy that the Baltic states became independent, and has had a tense relationship with them ever since they broke away.
Russia was particularly displeased when Estonia planned to move a Soviet statue away from the city center and out to a military cemetery. The Russian minority rioted, and at the same time, Estonia was hit by a massive cyber attack.
Starting on April 27, thousands of Estonian web sites were attacked, including those of the Estonian prime minister, banks, schools, and others. Some sites were receiving the equivalent of 1,000 clicks per second, when they normally received that many a day.
Investigators traced many of the attacking servers to Russia.
Russia, of course, denies the charges. But given what amounts to a new dictatorship under Vladimir Putin, and his penchant for squashing dissent, and murdering and jailing those who disagree with them, the cyber war would be no surprise.
Don't be surprised if the same onslaught is launched by Russia sometime against the U.S. Let's just hope we're more prepared than was Estonia.
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