Just yesterday, yet another report from the European intelligence agency said that once again the Russians have hacked into the Parliament, and the day before yesterday, the Swedish intelligence agency published a report on Russia attempts to influence the political scene in Sweden.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves

Categorized in : Politics

I think there are a number of little Ribbentrops running around. But Molotov hasn't found a good enough deal yet.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves

running numbers thinking

If Estonia or any member-state was invaded and Article V was not invoked, NATO will fall apart. If it fails once, the alliance will no longer exist.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves

estonia alliances fall

If you look at the funding of far-right parties in Europe - where's the money coming? We do know that 9 million euros was given by Russia, through a Czech bank, to [French National Front leader] Marine Le Pen. We know that this is not an isolated case. This is happening elsewhere.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves

marine party europe

As for the European far left, it has very little to do with Marxism-Leninism these days. It has more to do with anti-Semitism, racism, anti-migration. They claim to be left-wing but they're espousing positions which would actually be classically brown.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves

racism wings littles

In my 15 years as foreign minister and prez, after a meeting the Russians would lie about what we had talked about even * with * ample note-takers and staff present.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves

politics

They hack email and publish embarrassing articles, russians don’t like Macron, they don’t want him being president. Macron is seen as a unifying figure in the European Union holding sanctions [against Russia].

Toomas Hendrik Ilves

politics

I’m more concerned about their intentions to influence elections.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves

politics

It’s asymmetrical because they can do things to democracies that democracies can’t do back to an authoritarian government.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves

politics

The watershed moment was Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves

politics

Fake news is cheap to produce. Genuine journalism is expensive.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves

genuine journalism news fake

When hackers have access to powerful computers that use brute force hacking, they can crack almost any password; even one user with insecure access being successfully hacked can result in a major breach.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves

result computers being powerful

In a modern digitalized world, it is possible to paralyze a country without attacking its defense forces: The country can be ruined by simply bringing its SCADA systems to a halt. To impoverish a country, one can erase its banking records. The most sophisticated military technology can be rendered irrelevant. In cyberspace, no country is an island.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves

island technology country world

Sanctions work over time. They do work, but it takes years for them to have an effect.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves

over work time years

In Germany, a country that for obvious reasons is far more attuned than most to the dangers of demagogy, populism, and nationalism, lawmakers have already proposed taking legal measures against fake news. When populist, nationalist fake news threatens the liberal democratic center, other Europeans may follow suit.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves

legal news fake country

The E-government cabinet, E-health services, online voting, online pre-filled tax returns, e-mobile parking, are all examples of Estonian innovation, but far more importantly, they are examples of the transformative power of intensive and extensive use of Information Technology in the public sector.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves

innovation voting technology power

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 Ilves

face future fake democracy

Cybersecurity needs to be taken seriously by everyone.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves

seriously everyone taken needs

Big data knows and can deduce more about you than Big Brother ever could.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves

big-brother you data brother

People have actually figured out that Estonia is one of the few post-Communist countries that has a genuine image in people's minds as being something.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves

image something genuine people

Russia has had very aggressive military exercises. They've practiced mock nuclear attacks on Warsaw. Russian bombers practiced attacking strategic military targets in Sweden. The military aggression gets everybody nervous.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves

aggression nervous russia military