"These were typical distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, which occur constantly against various institutions and companies," Raasuke said, adding that the impact of these attacks was minimal.

He did not specify which institutions were affected.

DDoS attacks against Estonia's public sector institutions and private companies' e-services have become a nearly daily occurrence. However, Raasuke confirmed that thanks to protective measures, the majority of these attacks can be thwarted.

"Attackers are constantly testing different methods and volumes of attacks, meaning we have to stay vigilant at all times and adapt to the attackers' actions," he said.

According to the CERT-EE chief, the goal of these DDoS attacks is to undermine the functioning and the credibility of the state — which he says is, in a certain sense, an information operation, or InfoOps.

Last year, CERT-EE registered 484 DDoS attacks, 182 more than in 2022. On average, nearly 40 DDoS attacks occurred each month, the majority of which targeted Estonia's public sector.

A cybersecurity emergency response team (CERT), or computer emergency response team, is a working group that monitors, investigates, resolves and prevents cybersecurity issues.

CERT organizations exist worldwide and work closely together, sharing information about information security incidents and alerting each other to security threats.

CERT Estonia, or CERT-EE, serves as the operational cybersecurity department of the RIA. It handles security incidents that occur or originate in Estonian networks, or about which it has been notified by citizens or institutions either in Estonia or abroad.

CERT-EE is a member of the CSIRTs Network.

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