Tallinn, Estonia
Hackers have been paralyzing government and corporate Web sites across Estonia for the past three weeks. Defense Minister Jaak Aaviksoo said that about 1 million computers worldwide are being used to clog Estonian servers. “We identified in the initial attacks IP numbers from Russian government offices,” Aaviksoo said, suggesting that the Kremlin might be behind the crippling attacks. Russia promptly denied the charge. Russians were furious last month when Estonia, which suffered Soviet occupation for nearly 50 years, took down a statue honoring the Red Army’s triumph over the Nazis. Tiny Estonia is especially vulnerable to cyberwar, as it is one of the most thoroughly wired countries in Europe. It handles most of its government and banking services online.
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