Estonia accuses Russia of cyberwar

TALLINN, Estonia, May 17 (UPI) -- Estonian officials accused Russia of deluging government, banking and other Web sites in a cyberwar designed to crash Estonia's computer systems.

"When there are attacks coming from official (Internet Protocol) addresses of Russian authorities and they are attacking not only our Web sites but our mobile phone network and our rescue service network, then it is already very dangerous," Urmas Paet, the Estonian foreign minister, told The Times of London.

Targets of the cyberattacks have included the Web sites of Estonia's president and parliament, government ministries, political parties, banks and news organizations, the Times reported.

Tens of thousands of visits are threatening the sites and most of the hits have come from Russia and official government servers, Paet said.

NATO cyberterrorism experts were in Tallinn to study the attacks.

The Times said the cyberattacks began after Estonia moved a monument to the Soviet Red Army from Tallinn's center to a suburban military cemetery last month. Russia was insulted by the move, saying the statue honored soldiers who died fighting Nazi Germany. Many Estonians viewed the memorial as a reminder of Soviet occupation.