A look at Georgia's Cyberwar

by chowdawg | August 19, 2008 at 10:01 am

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The ongoing hostilities and violence in Georgia have been well reported; we see photos and videos of soldiers and tanks and bombings. But the attacks are not limited to physical targets, a cyberwar has also been mounted and though it is certainly not under-the-surface, it is not always apparent to the general public. Georgia has effectively been cut in half, communications have been disrupted throughout the country and in many cases Russia is in control of, or has been trying to gain control of communications networks. Russia has been hacking into websites and networks in order to disrupt the flow of news; control the media and prevent people from effectively communicating with each other. This is not a new tactic; it is a huge component of any completely effective controlling power, or would-be controlling power. And it is not a tactic that the former Soviet states are unfamiliar with. Georgians are receiving help from ex-Soviet bloc states where perhaps, memories of the past run a little closer to the surface than elsewhere.

Estonia and Poland have offered to host sites for Georgia. Estonia is currently hosting Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs website and has sent cyber defense advisors to help on the ground. Georgian news sites have moved their pages to places like Google’s Blogspot in an attempt to keep hackers out.

In the war in cyberspace Civil.ge, Georgia's main new site, has also been under constant Russian attack. Authorities have switched their operations to one of Google's Blogspot domains, to try and keep information about the situation regarding the war flowing. It is believed that the Russian hackers will have greater problems locking up or blocking Google's infrastructure.

Meanwhile, neighboring Estonia — once the victim of Russian-based hackers — is now hosting Georgia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs website. And "in a historic first, Estonia is sending cyber defense advisors to Georgia," Network World observes.

Have a look at a blog from a self-described cyber war foot soldier: http://www.slate.com/id/2197514

NPR’s Ivan Watson reports that Russian planes are continually bombing cell phone towers in an effort to knock out telecommunications networks and what’s left of the GSM network in the country only works sporadically. Also, he reports that the INTERNET in Georgia has been compromised by a cyberattack. This was reported earlier in the day by WIRED’s Danger Room.

With an already limited GSM network in South Ossetia and Abkhazia now compromised by bomb attacks it seems that folks heading into Georgia have very little option other than Thuraya and Iridium satellite phones. While networks may work from time to time I am not sure anyone is going to want to rely on them as their only source of communication. With the INTERNET also under assault aid teams will also be relying on Inmarsat’s BGAN and the new ThurayaIP.

A list of Georgian and international news sites and blogs can be found here: http://www.blackfive.net/main/2008/08/georgia-on-my-m.html