The Russian hacker organization Killnet claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming that it disabled access to over 200 government and private Estonian institutions.
Estonia announced last week that it had experienced the most comprehensive cyberattacks since 2007, shortly after dismantling Soviet monuments in an ethnic Russian-majority district. On its Telegram account, the Russian hacker group Killnet claimed credit for the attack, claiming that it had blocked access to more than 200 government and private Estonian institutions, including the online citizen identity system.
Cyber tension is dividing society.
However, an Estonian government official attempted to reassure the public that the attack had a minimal impact. However, the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications’ undersecretary of digital transformation, Luukas Ilves, tweeted, “It was undoubtedly the most extensive hack we have endured since 2007,” demonstrating the gravity of the problem. “With a few brief and tiny exceptions,” Ilves stated, “websites remained fully available throughout the day.” “The attack mostly went unnoticed in Estonia,” he added.
The Red Army monument was removed from Tallinn Square, sparking two nights of rioting by ethnic Russians. The Estonian government ordered the destruction of all public Soviet monuments in Narva, which was predominantly Russian-speaking, citing escalating tensions in the community. Estonia also accused Russia of attempting to divide society by using the past.