Estonia Computers Blitzed, Possibly by the Russians

The computer attacks, apparently originating in Russia, first hit the Web site of Estonia’s prime minister on April 27, the day the country was mired in protest and violence. The president’s site went down, too, and soon so did those of several departments in a wired country that touts its paperless government and likes to call itself E-stonia.

Then the attacks, coming in waves, began to strike newspapers and television stations, then schools and finally banks, raising fears that what was initially a nuisance could have economic consequences.

The attacks have peaked and tapered off since then, but they have not ended, prompting officials there to declare Estonia the first country to fall victim to a virtual war.

The Kremlin has repeatedly denied government involvement in the attacks, dismissing Estonia’s complaints as fabrications. Estonian officials, including Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, have said security officials traced the initial attacks to Russian computer servers, including domains registered to the government and the administration of President Vladimir V. Putin.

The attacks began on the day that the Estonian authorities removed a Soviet-era war monument that had been the source of protests and diplomatic tensions with Russia for months. For many Estonians the end of the World War II ushered in nearly five decades of Soviet occupation, and the monument was a symbol of it

Russia reacted vehemently, accusing Estonia, a former republic of the Soviet Union, of besmirching the memory of Soviet soldiers.

In the days that followed, Russia suspended rail service, ostensibly for track repairs, while protesters in Moscow staged raucous demonstrations, harassing Estonia’s ambassador in one instance. Senior officials have called for a boycott of Estonian goods, which at least one supermarket chain has observed.

Estonian officials assert that the cyberattack is the largest ever against a country. NATO sent a computer expert to Estonia this week to observe the attacks firsthand.

The computer attacks have inundated Estonia’s Web sites, overwhelming servers and forcing them to shut down, sometimes for a few hours, sometimes longer. Mr. Mikko, the Defense Ministry spokesman, said sites that typically received 1,000 visits a day had been buried under as many as 2,000 a second.

(steven lee myers, the new york times 19.05.07)