JULY 22, 2016
Data ranging from birth records to government files stored in secure location
Fearful of Russian cyber attack or invasion, the Baltic state of Estonia is planning to make a virtual copy of itself — in Britain.
Sample the FT's top stories for a week
Receive a free daily email briefing containing the 3 top stories from one of our top news themes
Select the topic you are interested in:
Email address:
Invalid email
Get briefing
By signing up you confirm that you have read and agree to theterms and conditions, cookie policy and privacy policy.
Unsubscribe at any time. Free stories only last for 1 week.
Negotiations are under way between Tallinn and London for Estonia to back up terabytes of data — everything from birth records and the electoral roll to property deeds, banking credentials and the entire government bureaucracy — to deposit in a secure location in the UK, according to Estonian officials.
Estonia already uses its embassies abroad to house servers to safeguard copies of government files. But amid an escalation of tensions with Moscow and growing concerns about cyber attacks from its eastern neighbour, Tallinn is now planning a far more ambitious set of contingency measures.
It is a project that speaks to anxieties in the region, as well as the nature of statehood itself — and war — in an increasingly digitised world.
“We have a very aggressive neighbour and we need to be sure that whatever happens to our territory in the future, Estonia can survive,” said Taavi Kotka, the government’s cyber chief. “In Estonia we already vote over the internet, we pay taxes over the internet — there’s almost nothing now we don't do digitally.”
He added that if something “really bad happened, we want to be able to say that our country still remains — we will still be able to be a country even if we don’t have our territory.”
A British government spokesperson confirmed the UK has had initial discussions with Estonia “about a joint data management project.”
Estonia was the victim of a crude but devastating Russian-backed cyber attack in 2007— an apparent reprisal for the relocation of a divisive Soviet-era grave marker, the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn — that crippled banks, media, the government and telecoms networks.
The country has regarded its digital security as a top priority ever since.
“When people talk about cyber attacks there is usually a lot of fear [mongering] and demons,” Mr Kotka said. “But in Estonia people have lived through it — they know what happens and that means we take it seriously.”
Estonia is one of the most digitally connected society in the world.
The government operates on an entirely paperless basis, and Estonians each have a unique encrypted digital identity which is used ubiquitously — from contactless payments on the transport network to checking into hospitals.
Technology thinks like us — only better and faster, and it never tires, writes Anjana Ahuja
Estonia, which has a population of around 1.3m, has become increasingly vulnerable because of its position on the front line of Nato’s stand-off with Russia.
Many within the alliance regard the Baltics as the next potential flashpoint if those tensions do not ease. Estonia has a sizeable Russian ethnic minority in its east and, like its two Baltic neighbours, Latvia and Lithuania, is a frequent target of Russian propaganda.
Nervousness is growing about the ability of Nato to protect the three Baltic states.Controversial remarks from US presidential candidate Donald Trump this week also raised concerns about the willingness of many in the alliance to do so.
Russian cyber attacks against the region are already being ratcheted up, Baltic officials say.
Whenever Russia undertakes large military drills close to the Baltic states, it accompanies them with a real increase in cyber attacks, one senior Baltic intelligence official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Within Nato, most military officials regard an outright invasion of the Baltics by Russia as highly unlikely, but instead are fearful of a more ambiguous “hybrid” warfare scenario, in which cyber attacks would likely play a key role.
The negotiations with the UK are in their early stages. A bilateral agreement still needs to be worked out about who has sovereignty over the data site, and therefore who is responsible for defending it should the host nation be digitally attacked.
The UK’s decision to leave the EU has been a complicating factor, and Estonia is also in talks with Luxemburg as a result.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016.
No comments:
Post a Comment