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From eWeek’s coverage…

While mobs were rioting in the streets of capital city Tallinn, Russian-language Web sites featuring blogs and forums—what I like to refer to as the Russian-speaking blogosphere—came alive with angry messages, followed by instructions on how readers could attack Estonian computers and network infrastructure on their own. The Estonians coined the term “cyber-riot,” and it fits. From this point on, many different kinds of attacks with varying intensity occurred.

eWeek - Estonian Cyber-War Highlights Civilian Vulnerabilities

Estonia, surprisingly, is much more technologically advanced than the United States. In the last election all the citizens voted from home, online. Their entire infrastructure - from banking to governemt - is all online so when something like this happens it threatens the core of their society.

Luckily (if you can call it lucky) the targets were civilian - mostly ISPs, banks, and the press. The Estonian CERN was able to collaboratively address the attacks and stop the intrusions.

Some are calling it the first Internet War. Had the “cyber-riot” attacked military infrastructures I would have agreed. In any case for us in the U.S. this event provides a nice look into the future of cyber terrorism and cyber warfare.

Is the U.S infrastructure capable of withstanding cyber-rioting, cyber-terrorism, or even cyber-warfare (I can’t help but look up at my War Games poster on the wall in my office)? According to the former National Security Boss - No, we are not…

From Clarke’s keynote speech at Black Hat Security Conference…

The work needed to create an Internet infrastructure that could support a more secure, more rationalized cyberspace has unfortunately been starved of funding by a Congress, an administration and a society that just “doesn’t get it,” Clarke said.

“The Bush administration has systematically reduced the work necessary to secure cyberspace,” he said. The administration has reduced funding for research and development, at DARPA and elsewhere, for example, he said.

“Bush’s own advisory committee said we were dangerously reducing funding” on securing cyberspace, he said. “Still, he went ahead, and it was reduced.”

eWeek - Bush Admin Leaves Holes in Cyberspace

It’s not quite SkyNet but it’s still a tad scary…

Tags: Internet War, Cyber-Terrorism, Security, War Games

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