Because of cyberattacks and fake news, we can already imagine the problem all democratic societies will face in future elections: how to limit lies when they threaten democracy?
Toomas Hendrik IlvesRead
Digital warfare, in the Clausewitz definition as 'the continuation of policy by other means,' reached Western public consciousness via my own country, Estonia, in 2007 when our governmental, banking, and news media servers were hit with 'distributed denial-of-service attacks,' which is when hackers overload servers until they shut down.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Digital warfare involves using cyber attacks to achieve political objectives.
In this quote, Toomas Hendrik Ilves highlights the significance of digital warfare as a modern extension of traditional conflict, particularly through cyber attacks that disrupt essential services. He emphasizes the 2007 cyber attacks on Estonia, illustrating how such tactics represent a new battleground in the realm of geopolitics, where digital means are employed to undermine government functionality and public trust.
Themes
Digital WarfareCyber AttacksPoliticsEstoniaSecurityTechnologyClausewitz
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about national security, a leader might reference this quote to underscore the importance of cybersecurity.
More from Toomas Hendrik Ilves
All quotes →When Estonia reestablished its sovereignty after a half century of successive thuggish, totalitarian, foreign occupations by the Soviets, the Nazis, and then again the Soviets, we knew we wanted to create a democratic country characterized by rule of law and respect for human rights.
Toomas Hendrik IlvesRead
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