Estonia and six NATO allies sign a deal this week to provide staff and funds for a new research center designed to boost the alliance’s defenses against cyber terrorism.
The agreement to be signed in Brussels on Wednesday comes a year after the small Baltic nation was exposed to an unprecedented wave of cyber attacks that crippled government and corporate computer networks.
The attacks lasted three weeks and followed deadly riots sparked by the relocation of a Soviet war memorial. Many Estonians suspect the Kremlin was behind the virtual strikes but Moscow has denied involvement.
The attacks showed how vulnerable individual countries are to cyber warfare and underscored the need for a joint NATO response, said Estonian Maj. Raul Rikk, who heads the center.
“The attacks against Estonia last year were cyber terrorism to say the least,” Rikk told The Associated Press in a tour of the facility in Tallinn. “The job of the center is to create new capabilities to fight against new threats.”
Despite tight security, the low-key appearance of the center makes it look like the offices of an IT company rather than a site where cyber war games are simulated. Rows of computers are lined up in classroom-like offices separated by a long corridor.
The defense ministers of NATO members Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Italy, Spain and Slovakia are to sign Wednesday’s agreement that will ensure funds and staff for the center’s operations. The United States will join the project as an observer, Rikk said.
The center will be operational in August, although the formal opening is planned for 2009. A staff of 30 specialists will conduct research and training on cyber warfare. They will also be ready to help NATO members respond to any future attacks against computer networks.
Rikk said the experts will be recruited from various NATO member states and fields…