Estonia strengthens defense against russian cyber threat
Estonia strengthens cyber defence of the public sector and restricts emails from russian servers
Starting in September, emails from russian servers and addresses using the «.ru» domain will not be delivered directly to Estonian government institutions. Such messages will automatically be redirected to quarantine for additional checks. Estonia’s Minister of Justice and Digital Technology Liisa Pakosta explained that this is necessary to protect government institutions from cyberattacks.
Estonia’s decision is linked to the rapid growth in the scale of cyber threats. The number of DDoS attacks in the country increased from 484 in 2023 to 580 in 2024 and 756 in 2025. Pakosta noted that a significant share of these cyberattacks is linked specifically to russia.
The Center has already reported an increase in cyberattacks against Western countries. In particular, russian and pro-russian hacker groups systematically target government resources and critical infrastructure in Norway, Canada and Romania.
Such attacks are part of a broader campaign by russia, which uses cyberspace as one of the key tools of hybrid warfare against European states — from DDoS attacks and data theft to attempts to disrupt the operation of government institutions and critical infrastructure. That is why Estonia is introducing additional measures to strengthen the country’s cyber defence against russian threats.
