Category Archives: Opinions

Legislation of criminal jurisdiction over online texts should be changed

The acquittal of writer Kaur Kender, accused of producing child pornography, because he wrote his text abroad that is therefore not subject to Estonian legislation shows that laws need to be taken into conformity with the digital age,” finds Jaan Ginter, professor of criminology at the University of Tartu.

Tallinn Circuit Court acquitted Kender a week ago because he was in Michigan, USA when his infamous short story “UNTITLED 12” was published, while the server of publisher nihilist.fm is located in the United Kingdom. Kender was beyond the reach of Estonian laws.

When a digital-age person with no knowledge of the law reads the court’s decision, they will find it very surprising Kaur Kender’s case does not fall in the jurisdiction of Estonian courts at all. Kender’s text was aimed at the Estonian market. [..] The location of a digital services provider – the location of computers used to offer the service – should not matter these days. [..] No one, including myself, has given comprehensive thought to what the criminal jurisdiction of online texts could be; however, it is clear laws are evolving, and that the location of the server cannot be the decisive factor.

Links:
https://news.postimees.ee/4281829/kender-s-case-points-to-necessity-of-changes

Ten years since cyber attacks following 2007 Bronze Night riots

Opinion by Jaan Priisalu, at that time the head of SIRT at Swedbank:

Jaan Priisalu, senior researcher at Tallinn’s NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE), told ERR in an interview last week that through Estonia’s initiative and the public debate that followed the attacks, a topic was now getting attention that before was talked about only behind closed doors, and that some even looked at as an embarrassment.

Estonia’s 2008-2013 cyber strategy shows that after the attacks, development in the field went in several different directions. As Priisalu puts it, the strategy was a collection of the lessons learned, and based on them, a system to respond to this sort of incident was put in place.

People involved in cyber security were brought together and asked what could have been done differently, and what else should have been done. Instructions were written up, lines of communication laid out, and a cyber security curriculum put together at the Tallinn University of Technology (TUT). With it, systematic education in the field of cyber security began in Estonia.

Opinion by Klaid Mägi, the current head of CERT-EE:

Estonia’s capability to manage cyber crises has substantially improved over the past ten years, CERT Estonia chief Klaid Mägi said at a conference dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the April 2007 cyber attacks.

According to Mägi, compared to ten years ago, Estonia is substantially more capable of managing cyber crimes. “We have created systems that identify attacks and protect [us] from them, have practiced cooperation with public and private institutions, have substantially contributed to improving the knowledge of end users and are taking part in substantial international cooperation in order to manage crisis situations better,” he highlighted.

Links:
http://news.err.ee/592075/estonia-s-reaction-to-cyber-attacks-influenced-global-security-policy
http://news.err.ee/592250/cert-chief-estonia-s-cyber-crisis-management-capability-improved-in-decade

Interview with TUT Center of Digital Forensics and Cyber Security co-leader Olaf Maennel

Olaf_Maennel

Tallinn University of Technology (TUT) opened a new Center of Digital Forensics and Cyber Security on November 12. The Center will offer technical advice, academic education and training programs, conduct cutting-edge research projects, and raise public awareness of cyber security risks. ERR news interviewed the center’s co-leader, Olaf Maennel, to learn more about the newly opened center and the cyber security issues, as well as about his personal connection to Estonia.

Links:
http://news.err.ee/v/scitech/f503fe99-28fa-4e1c-9738-c4af41b69c42