CYBERWAR OR CYBER-TERRORISM: THE ATTACK ON ESTONIA

The paper reviews the vulnerabilities of information societies to deliberate, sustained cyber-attack at a level which-if conducted in physical space by a nation state-would likely be called armed aggression. The attack on Estonia in the spring of 2007 offers a sobering example of the nature of cyber aggression and the uncertainties and ambivalence in the international community (and especially the U.S.) on how to respond to such attacks.