The 2007 estonian cyber attacks
The 2007 estonian cyber attacks
A clash of bronze and copper
The Government of Estonia is having an emergency meeting after mass riots the night before. The point of contention? The Bronze Soldier of Tallinn, a war memorial built by the USSR that commemorates the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War.
For the Russian-minority population of Estonia, consisting of roughly 25% of the country’s population, this is a symbol of particular national value and pride. However, for the ethnic Estonian majority, beneath this memorial lurks decades of pain, how they traded one oppressive regime in Nazi Germany for another in the Soviet Union. Estonian nationalists therefore suggest moving the Bronze Soldier from a busy intersection in the middle of Tallinn to a more inconspicuous site, the Defence Forces Cemetery. This explodes a powder keg of ethnic tensions between the two populations not seen since the country’s independence. At 3:40 AM, Prime Minister Andrus Ansip signs off on a decree ordering the memorial to be moved as soon as possible. A few hours later, Estonians wake up, only to see their digital infrastructure completely decimated by unknown cyberattacks. Everything from news sites to online banking to government websites to news is rendered inaccessible. The entire country essentially shuts down, in what is the world’s first example of a cyberattack of this size targeting an entire nation.
In this crisis simulation, delegates become numerous actors from all walks of life, from Estonian politicians and business tycoons to international representatives. Through intensive negotiations and scheming, they don’t just have to resolve the cyberattacks and ensure something of this magnitude never happens again, but also influence the small state’s domestic politics and end the ethnic divide once and for all. The future of not just Estonia, but world cyberdefense is left in the balance.