The Estonian Academy of Sciences' Cybersecurity Commission, in collaboration with state agencies responsible for organizing elections, assessed the security of Estonia's voting technologies.

The group analyzed the whole process, from mobile voting to paper ballots.

Thirty-one risks were identified, but none were assessed as high or very high. Six were rated as medium and the remaining 25 risks were deemed to be low.

"In our review of the risks, including those often highlighted by critics — such as 'what if it really is bad?' — we found that, when examining the countermeasures in place, none of those risks rose to a high level. This was somewhat interesting for us as well, as we discovered that the bigger problems actually lie elsewhere," commission chairman and academic Dan Bogdanov told Tuesday morning's "Terevisioon."

Bogdanov said the identified risks need to be dealt with. 

"For example, we highlighted the issue of observability — not all stages of the process can currently be observed, and this is something that can be improved, and work is already being done to address it," he added.

Officials also need to share more information and better, he told "Terevisioon."

Another problem that needs to be dealt with is disinformation campaigns.

"Disinformation campaigns are not just Estonia's problem, and it is important to emphasize, as with many other threats, that Estonia is not unique in this regard. Disinformation campaigns have sparked protests and people have been harmed, meaning it's not a harmless issue where someone can simply post whatever they want online, claim the elections were stolen, and call for everyone to gather and take action against it," Bogdanov argued.

He said the same situation occurs in Estonia: certain campaigns are carried out from time to time and they can cause people to doubt whether the elections are fair.

"The result is a decline in participation in democracy, which is the worst outcome— when people stop caring and do not go to vote. This is exactly what we most want to avoid," the academic said.

The committee agreed that steps needed to mitigate the six medium-risk threats include countering Disinformation campaigns that undermine democratic elections, continuous efforts to ensure the security and reliability of the voting system, and developing a method to verify the authenticity and integrity of voter applications on smart devices.

Additionally, it was recommended to improve the auditing and observation of e-elections.

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