Estonia blocked cyberattacks claimed by Pro-Russia Killnet group

Estonia announced to have blocked a wave of cyber attacks conducted by Russian hackers against local institutions.

Undersecretary for Digital Transformation Luukas Ilves announced that Estonia was hit by the most extensive wave of DDoS attacks it has faced since 2007. The DDoS attacks targeted both public institutions and the private sector. The Pro-Russia hacker group Killnet claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Ilves confirmed that Estonian cyber units were able to block the attacks. E-Estonia services were not disrupted.

e-Estonia refers to a movement by the government of Estonia to facilitate citizen interactions with the state through the use of electronic solutions. E-services created under this initiative include i-Voting, e-Tax Board, e-Business, e-Banking, e-Ticket, e-School, University via internet, the E-Governance Academy, as well as the release of several mobile applications.

The head of Estonia’s computer emergency response team, Tonu Tammer, told AFP the attacks hit the websites of local authorities, including the police and the government. The attackers also hit a logistics firm.

The Killnet group declared to have hit Estonia as a retaliation for the Baltic state’s removal of a Soviet-era World War II memorial this week.

“The Baltic state had decided to take down the Soviet T-34 tank from a pedestal in Narva — a border city with a large Russian-speaking minority — and transfer it to the Estonian War Museum.” reèprted the AFP agency. “The government had accused Russia of using such monuments to stir up tensions.”

The Killnet group has been active since March, it launched DDoS attacks against governments that expressed support to Ukraine, including Italy, Romania, Moldova, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Norway, and Latvia.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Estonia)

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Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.