Estonian foreign intelligence warns of growing cyber threats from Russia

The intelligence agency says Russian threat actors want to exploit security vulnerabilities and promote pro-Russian interests in foreign countries

Russia will continue to engage in cyber operations to threaten Western nations, with sanctions so far proving ineffective.

The warning comes from the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service (EFIS), which in its 2020 annual threat assessment report states that Russian cyber operations have been successful so far and will continue to look for new security vulnerabilities to exploit in coming months.

"In 2019, Russian cyber operations were revealed that have been going on undiscovered for years, and there are likely to be more," the EFIS wrote in its report [pdf].

"In addition to their continuity, Russia's cyber operations are characterised by the tendency to exploit situations as they arise - as security vulnerabilities become public, the Russians are eager to exploit these immediately against their existing targets."

The report gives example of a security vulnerability that security researchers disclosed publicly in February 2019. Within a month of its disclosure, Russian hackers began attempts to exploit it to compromise the network of an international organisation.

According to the EFIS, the primary purpose of Russian cyber operations against foreign institutions is to steal information on political positions of various countries and to explore the possibilities of influencing a country in directions conducive to Russian interests.

Many international institutions use shared systems to exchange information between member states, making them vulnerable to attacks from Russian threat actors, the report warned.

Russia is also expected to interfere with the US and Georgian elections later this year. The goal will be to help Russian-friendly candidates, as well as to show that Western nations cannot hold fair elections, thus making dubious elections in Russia seem less significant.

Not the only threat

The Foreign Intelligence Agency also warned about lobbyists in Europe who, it claims, are working for the Chinese government and purposefully speaking on the shared views of Europe and China.

The report says that China's diplomatic representatives in Europe are now speaking more frequently in the media on sensitive issues in the host country and making recommendations in public on what those countries should do to have friendly relations with China.

In a statement released last week, the Chinese Embassy in Estonia said that it does not agree with the China-related content in the EFIS's annual report.

"The part concerned [sic] China is characterised by ignorance, prejudice as well as the Cold War mindset," a spokesman for the embassy said.

"Regardless the prospective on-going relations between China and Estonia, it presents China as a so-called country of threat by stories out of nothing, distorted facts or malicious attacks. This is neither professional nor responsible.

"The Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service is requested, based on facts and true [sic], to correct its wrong expressions to remove the negative impact. They are advised to make useful and practical efforts to support development of bilateral relations."