Estonia thwarts major cyber attack claimed by pro‑Kremlin hackers

"Thanks to the quick actions taken, the impact of the attack on the functioning of institutions was not significant," noted the newspaper.

Spokespersons for the Estonian Information System Authority (RIA) reported on Monday that on Saturday and Sunday, dozens of public sector websites were targeted.

The attacked sites included the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board (PPA), the customs and tax office, and the Ministry of Justice. The attacks against these institutions were the most intense, emphasized RIA.

"Thanks to the remedial measures implemented in recent years, DDoS attacks usually have no visible effects or they are minimal. This was also the case this time as the office reacted quickly and managed to mitigate the effects. On Saturday, nearly three billion malicious requests for access were sent to state institutions," stated the RIA spokespeople.

The office recalled that the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine has intensified the scale of cyber attacks on websites of Estonian public and private sectors. "The attacks were mainly claimed by pro-Kremlin hacker groups, as was the case last weekend," reported the Estonian office.