Seven NATO nations yesterday backed a new cyber defence centre in Estonia, the ex-Soviet state which last year faced weeks of denial of service attacks on its internet infrastructure after a row with Russia.
Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Spain agreed to help fund and staff the centre in the Estonian capital Tallinn. The US will initially send an observer to the project, aimed at boosting defences against such attacks.
鈥淲e have seen in Estonia that a cyber attack can swiftly become an issue of national security. Cyber attacks can cripple societies,鈥� NATO spokesman James Appathurai said after a signing ceremony in Brussels.
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The centre will become fully operational in August with around 30 staff providing research, consultation, training and development of cyber defences, which will remain the prime responsibility of national governments.
Cyber flood
Estonia鈥檚 decision last year to remove the bronze statue of a Red Army soldier from the centre of Tallinn sparked rioting by mainly Russian-speaking citizens, a row with Moscow and four weeks of cyber attacks which its president blamed on Russia.
Moscow has denied any involvement in the flood of data which overloaded servers and caused computers to crash, with Estonian officials saying its banks were briefly targeted.
Some analysts see 鈥渃yber war鈥� as one of the world鈥檚 emerging security risks, but many NATO nations are reluctant to recognise it as such.
They fear that such attacks could become grounds for invoking the alliance鈥檚 mutual defence clause 鈥� the NATO pledge to defend other members under attack. However, last month鈥檚 NATO summit included an agreement to study any request for help by any ally facing a cyber attack.
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