| Cyber security is a relevant and significant worldwide threat. The unceasing demand for better-quality technology ultimately facilitates a global power while concurrently fashioning a global nation's dependence on a new human-made phenomenon -- the cyber domain. Sufficient maturity of strategic enterprise solutions to mitigate cyber threats is a significant undertaking. Constructing and implementing laws and regulations amongst nations are an arduous task. Institutionalizing cyber policy between an alliance such as NATO or the European Union, or striving to constitute a global Internet policy can be a herculean commission.;The purpose of this research is to conduct an exploratory qualitative analysis of the Distributed Denial of Service attack by Russia on Estonia in 2007; to gain an understanding of the attack, and to explore counteractive methods and strategies Estonia has institutionalized to alleviate future cyber-attacks. The specific problem focuses on Russia's ability to infiltrate Estonia's networks creating the first non-kinetic cyber-attack. This occurrence broadened the scope of attentiveness from countries the world over and had shaped new complications on the roles and responsibilities of the NATO alliance. Furthermore, the nearly three weeks of disrupted national services spawned new challenging questions such as: what constitutes a cyber-attack; what is the appropriate response to a cyber-attack; how can a nation determine the perpetrator of a cyber-attack; and what would be the proportional response to a cyber-attack, are but a few of many problematic questions.;The immersion into a myriad of articles, journals, and literature as well as providing a questionnaire to individuals who have worked with for the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence, will be critical in getting firsthand knowledge of cause and effect of the 2007 cyber-attack and strategic efforts for cyber preventive measures. The cyber-attack on Estonia in 2007, was followed by cyber-attacks on Georgia in 2008, and Kyrgyzstan in 2009, both by Russia.;Research in cyber is in its infancy. Estonia has established the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence as an international research organization offering guidance on how to prevent cyber threats. Leaders in technology, science, mathematics, law, and others, continue to improve on more safer and more secure technologies; and, of course, hackers continue to create havoc, either through experimentation or malicious endeavors. |
