They don't understand Russian humour. On Fri, 6 Mar 2009, Paul Ferguson wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > Via Radio Free Europe - Radio Liberty. > > [snip] > > In the spring of 2007, a cyberattack on Estonia blocked websites and > paralyzed the country's entire Internet infrastructure. At the peak of the > crisis, bank cards and mobile-phone networks were temporarily frozen, > setting off alarm bells in the tech-dependent country -- and in NATO as > well. > > The cyberattacks came at a time when Estonia was embroiled in a dispute > with Russia over the removal of a Soviet-era war memorial from the center > of Tallinn. Moscow denied any involvement in the attacks, but Estonian > officials were convinced of Russia's involvement in the plot. > > A new blog post [1] for Ekho Moskvy makes a startling revelation about the > 2007 attacks. The post, by journalist Nargiz Asadova -- a columnist for RIA > Novosti based in Washington, and an Ekho Moskvy host -- describes a March 3 > panel discussion between Russian and American experts on information > warfare in the 21st century. > > Asadova, who was moderating the discussion, asked why Russia is routinely > blamed [2] for the cyberattacks in Estonia and Georgia, where government > sites were seriously disrupted during the August war. > > She might not have been expecting the answer she got from Sergei Markov, a > State Duma Deputy from the pro-Kremlin Unified Russia party: "About the > cyberattack on Estonia... don't worry, that attack was carried out by my > assistant. I won't tell you his name, because then he might not be able to > get visas." > > Markov, a political analyst who has long been one of Vladimir Putin's > glibbest defenders, went on to explain that this assistant happened to be > in "one of the unrecognized republics" during the dispute with Estonia and > had decided on his own that "something bad had to be done to these > fascists." So he went ahead and launched a cyberwar. > > "Turns out it was purely a reaction from civil society," Markov reportedly > said, adding ominously, "and, incidentally, such things will happen more > and more." > > In Russia, Markov's confession is all over the blogosphere, but has yet to > be picked up by the Russian media. > > > [snip] > > More: > http://www.rferl.org/Content/Behind_The_Estonia_Cyberattacks/1505613.html > > Hat-tip: Intelfusion > http://intelfusion.net/wordpress/?p=544 > > > - - ferg > > [1] http://www.echo.msk.ru/blog/n_asadova/576689-echo/ > [2] > http://www.rferl.org/content/Georgian_Government_Accuses_Russia_Of_Cyberwar > /1190477.html > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- > Version: PGP Desktop 9.6.3 (Build 3017) > > wj8DBQFJsdMzq1pz9mNUZTMRAmNUAKDT2H5goBEArOtg7EyMgHc/6P1dKwCgniQi > UMHNKcc3TTHSexuE89XfVRU= > =1xsY > -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- > > > > -- > "Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson > Engineering Architecture for the Internet > fergdawgster(at)gmail.com > ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/ > _______________________________________________ > Fun and Misc security discussion for OT posts. > https://linuxbox.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/funsec > Note: funsec is a public and open mailing list. > _______________________________________________ Fun and Misc security discussion for OT posts. https://linuxbox.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/funsec Note: funsec is a public and open mailing list.
