How Russian threats in the 2000s turned this country into the go-to expert on cyber defense - CNN

People look at the visualisation during the Locked Shields, cyber defence exercise organized by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Exellence in Tallinn. - pics/2021/06/58404_001_t.jpg — People look at the visualisation during the Locked Shields, cyber defence exercise organized by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Exellence in Tallinn.

When people like the German Chancellor Angela Merkel or the King of Belgium want to learn more about cybersecurity, they go to Estonia.

The Baltic country runs on the internet. From filing taxes and voting, to registering the birth of a new baby, nearly everything a person might want or need from the government can be done online. It's an approach that's incredibly convenient for Estonia's 1.3 million people -- but it also requires high level of cybersecurity.
Luckily for its residents, Estonia is punching way above its weight when it comes to online safety. It regularly places on top of security rankings. Its capital city of Tallinn is home to NATO's cyber defense hub, the Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence. When it took up the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council last year, it made cybersecurity one of the policy priorities.

"Estonia digitized a lot sooner than other countries, it was focusing on things like online schooling and online government services and it took a more proactive approach to technology," said Esther Naylor, a international security research analyst at Chatham House.

"And it recognized that it needs to be a secure country in order for citizens to want to use online systems and for businesses to want to do business in Estonia ... and I think that this is why Estonia's approach is often heralded as the model approach," she added.

A new European Union report obtained by CNN last week showed serious cyberattacks against critical targets in Europe have doubled in the past year. There have also been a series of high-profile attacks on US targets in recent weeks. The issue came up during a high-stakes summit between the US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.
Biden said he told Putin that certain areas of "critical infrastructure" should be off-limits for cyberattacks, and warned the Russian leader that the US had "significant cyber capability" and would respond to any further incursions. Putin told reporters the two leaders had agreed to start consultations on the issue.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/18...