Crisis communications has taken a whole new meaning in Estonia in the past couple of weeks. I’m not talking about the PR kind of crisis, but a new type of cyber crisis that happens when a country’s Internet systems are attacked by another country, bringing down government systems.
Last year while speaking at a marketing conference in Estonia, several Estonians explained to British PR strategist and professor David Phillips and I that there was a great deal of tension about a Soviet war memorial statue in the center of the capital of Tallinn. The Estonians wanted to move it as it represented a symbol of Russian occupation. The ethnic Russians in Estonia ardently opposed the move, saying it was a tribute to Estonia’s liberation from Nazi Germany. Robin Gurney of Altex Marketing took David and I to visit the statue and we shared some opinions on how Estonia might diffuse the growing tension based on our public relations experience.
But I never envisioned what has happened.
The Estonians moved the statue. Rioting broke out between thousands of Estonians and ethnic Russians. And then, worst of all, cyber attacks were made on Estonia’s state Web sites, allegedly by computers linked to the Russian government, as well as by individuals’ computers from around the world.
In covering the situation this week, The Economist article, “A Cyber Riot,” underscores the magnitude of the crisis:
“To remain open to local users, Estonia has had to cut access to its sites from abroad. That is potentially more damaging to the country’s economy than the limited Russian sanctions announced so far.”
“The alarm is sounding well beyond Estonia. NATO has been paying special attention. ‘If a member state’s communications center is attacked with a missile, you call it an act of war. So what do you call it if the same installation is disabled with a cuber-attack?’ asks a senior official in Brussels.”
If the Internet is used as a weapon, just how should countries and NATO respond? This is a situation worth watching.
[cyber attack] [Estonia] [crisis communications]
Lois,
I have passed the Bronze Soldier so many times and although I clearly remember your visit and our chat I had actually forgotten we visited the monument then (and the Museum of Occupation just across the way).
It is shocking what has happened and we too are watching and reporting official stuff here:
http://www.altex-marketing.com/category/estonia-russia/
Lois, It was good of Robin to show us round and, like you, I have been following this story.
I called it a Digital Tank on the Estonian Government’s lawn.
It could happen to other countries but also to companies.
Most organisations do need both Internet mediated Risk Management and Crisis Management in place these days and it has been interesting to identify available strategies in this live case as well.
Lois, it was good of Robin to take us on the tour – he sends his regards btw.
This has been an interesting case. A digital tank on your front lawn is not pleasant. If a country allows its citizens to separate a government from its people, I submit that it is State sanctioned terrorism. If a government does it, then it is an act of war. So we need to watch this with great care. NATO is right to be concerned. An act like this for the big economies would be very powerful – government systems, most banking, 10% of retail sales and much more would cause a run on currencies and Stock Markets. This is far from a joke and not far from home.
For companies this is a wake-up call. It is now even more important to have both risk management and crisis management in place to protect digital assets.
It is not impossible and it has been interesting to see how Estonia has responded.
Regrettably our accounting systems are very poor at valuing digital assets but imaging the insurance cost for this one!