Cyber-terrorism

Cyber-Terrorism is an assault on electronic communication networks. This can result great economic loss and even large scale death. Because of countries reliance on computers today, cyber-terrorism has emerged as a huge threat which can cause more damage then traditional terrorism.

Cyber-Attacks on Estonia

In May of 2007, Russia was accused of conducting a three week cyber-terrorism attack on the small Baltic country of Estonia. The attacks came as the two countries were embroiled in the worst dispute since the end of the Cold War. The cyber- attacks disabled government websites; including military website, newspapers, companies and banks and other parts of the Estonian cyber-infrastructure. Although there has not been solid evidence, Estonian officials traced IP addresses to computers in Russian government offices, including one in President Vladimir Putin's office, and believe that some of the attacks may have been done through hijacked computers. Evidence also suggests that the cyber-attacks may have also been carried out by ordinary people equipped with instructions from Russian websites. The attacks on Estonia urged the country to call on organizations like NATO, and the EU, to develop responses to the new 21st century national security threat.