The Incident Response Department of RIA (CERT-EE) recorded 269 incidents with an impact in July, which is slightly above the average for the last six months. Automated monitoring also found 529 malware-infected devices – half the number found in the first months of the year.
The number of denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks has been stable in recent months. Among other things, the domain name servers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and RIA, the school admissions information system sais.ee, and the website of the NATO CCDCOE were attacked in July. However, services were only disrupted for short periods or the attacks had no effect at all.
At the beginning of July, an Estonian healthcare institution notified CERT-EE of a cyber attack. The file server of the hospital had been wiped of data relating to the day-to-day operations and administration of the institution, but the health records of patients remained intact. Fortunately, the hospital had working backups and all data was restored.
RIA deems this case a perfect example of how important it is to make regular backup copies and how much damage it can prevent. In recent years, RIA has also been actively involved in the monitoring of health care institutions to ensure compliance with cyber security requirements and therefore also the availability of critical services.
In July, RIA ran a cyber awareness campaign to draw attention to the threats that lurk in Estonian cyberspace, which can leave our businesses and people without vital data, accounts, and money.
As part of the campaign, we urged people to be more aware of their habitual online behaviour and to test their knowledge on a website which is available in Estonian, English, and Russian. Engaging and practical instructional videos will explain how to protect yourself from common cyber threats, and you can test your knowledge by taking a 12-question quiz.
In addition, Ohtlik klikk (A Dangerous Click), a 10-part series on cybersecurity, was launched on 3 July and will air every Monday on Kuku Radio. The aim of the series is to inform about the dangers and concerns in cyberspace and about the personal responsibility in preventing and dealing with the consequences of cyber incidents.
For a more comprehensive overview of the situation in Estonian and global cyberspace and the prevention activities of RIA, read our monthly summary, which will now also be published in English. The quarterly and yearly assessments are already available in English.
