BRUSSELS, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- Terrorism and wars of the future won't be fought outdoors but from the comfort of our own homes, behind our computer screens. With cyberattacks on the rise and gaining in destructive capability, the threat to the international community is beyond current regulations and defense mechanisms, a panel of experts said last week.

"Cyber-warfare is not becoming the threat of the future, it already is," said Estonian Defense Minister Jaak Aaviksoo. Estonia endured the first publicized high-profile cyberattack during April and May 2007 when hackers crippled the country by attacking government, bank, political party, newspaper and company Web sites, following the move of a famous Soviet monument.

Hackers used a denial-of-service technique that involves using computers that have been infected with a virus to simultaneously request data from a certain Web site, causing that site to break down. They used millions of computers from as far away as the United States, Canada, Brazil and Vietnam, according to an Estonian government official.

The assault, which was originally thought to be carried out by Russia, was eventually traced back to a handful of Estonian students of Russian ethnicity, one of whom was fined $1,620 for his part in the attack last month, a sentence Aaviksoo denounced. "The fine was too much for him," he said. "I understand his emotions."

The Estonian attack raised awareness around the world of a growing problem. Last year the Pentagon drew up a report claiming that China might have a plan in place for a cyberattack that would cripple U.S. aircraft carrier battle troops. China has previously been accused of hacking into U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates' computer, other high-level Pentagon computers and the German government's system.