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E-Estonia

June 21, 2017 | Expert Insights

Estonia has set up the first ‘data embassy’ at Luxembourg using online infrastructure. In the country’s efforts to keep data safe, it becomes the first country to digitize a double secure method for storing data.

Background

The concept of a virtual embassy has long been a mission for Estonia. According to a World Development report by the World Bank in 2016, Estonia was considered the ‘closest to a digital society.’

The region has emphasized greatly on digitizing its data, as relying on conventional records has risks in the future. To ensure digital continuity, it is important to have access to both physical and virtual data.

In the year 2002, the government built free Wi-Fi, covering most parts of the country. In 2007, citizens could vote online during the elections and in 2014 Estonia became the first country to introduce the concept of ‘E-residency’ - where anyone across the world can apply to become an e-resident. It is therefore not surprising that the Baltic state is a pioneer with the setting up of the data embassy. However, it must be noted that there is more to this initiative than mere ‘data recovery’.

It may be possible that an attack on Estonia’s cyber space in 2007 accelerated this development. About a decade back, Estonia became one of the first countries to come under attack from a modern form of hybrid warfare. The government accused Russia of the attack but lacked concrete evidence to support that accusation.

As a result of this cyber-attack, that took place in April 27th 2007, online services of banks, media outlets, government bodies were suspended for over three weeks at the time. Cash machines and online banking services had been affected.

During that period, Estonia’s cyber security official, Tanel Sepp expressed concerns while acknowledging that the attack had been a test for Estonia and its security system.

Analysis

In the contemporary world, war has shifted from the battlefield to cyber space. While technology brings with it a number of advantages, it has also made the world more vulnerable. Cyber wars are new generation warfare; the speed and sophistication of cyber attacks have become asymmetric, extremely complex and offensive. They threaten economic, political, social inventions and can affect integral parts of military operations.

This means that a hostile power can wreak havoc on a country like Estonia without facing military retaliation. The NATO summit in Wales in 2014 endorsed a cyber defense policy into its operations to improve mutual information sharing and to integrate cyber defense cooperation as part of its collective defense security. This was in response to the cyber attack on an ally (Estonia) and a practical move to counter new security challenges.

Assessment

The advent of cyber warfare is dictating new rules of engagement in today’s world. Cyber capabilities create legitimate and necessary concerns.  In the near future, we might even witness wars that occur only in cyberspace. A nation must develop the necessary capabilities to defend itself in the cyberspace. Modern day threats are multidimensional and security systems must be able to counter threats across all platforms.

Our assessment is that the conscious policy choices of the Estonian government stems from a constant review of the changing world. Political institutions are responsible to ensure the stability and the functioning of a state. It is important for governments across the world to capitalize on latest technologies to remediate threats that can potentially destabilize a country. Given its strategic vision in adopting advanced technology, Estonia can be regarded a pioneer in this field.