We often witnessed that wars and riots have also a digital form. Take in example few cases from recent history: the conflict between Israel and Lebanon has been transferred to digital ground through the rise of
defacements with anti-war messages and, as it seems, cyber-war will not be over soon  . Or consider riots provoked by the publication of satiric pictures about Holy Prophet Mohammed. Reactions  were definitely strong in Islamic world, both in streets and on-line .

As things stand, no surprise that the protest that took place some week ago in Estonia  because of the removal of a “Red Army memorial” had also digital consequences. As riots started in Tallinn, some governmental  websites , such as Foreign Ministry site, got defaced and even the website of Prime Minister's party, Reform Party ,was attacked.  Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, has been just the main supporter of the move to relocate the memorial.

In the end, on May 8th, a 19-years-old boy of Russian origin was arrested with the accusation of being involved in posting calls for DoS attacks against Estonian targets and providing IP addresses for official sites that he wanted targeted.

Someone would say that we cannot even compare the war in Lebanon with Tallinn’s protests, and someone else could argue that they have really no element in common...but we except that they are really very similar because starting from the moment when it was discovered the power of digital weapons, each conflict- be it a political protest, a commercial competition or a real war- became similar.

In any kind of conflict belligerent parties use high-powered weapons and, potentially, the most destructive weapons are cyber attacks: great fire power in field or well-armed troops could not be enough because a small group of attackers could lead a mass-destructive attack simply taking down digital systems on which thousands of lives depend on.

Another aspect, that should not be underestimated is the strength of cyber communities. Forum's, websites and other online tools are commonly used as ”meeting points”, virtual headquarters, places where to spread propaganda, collect funds, recruit fighters and call for attacks.

For example, the man arrested in Tallinn posted a list of targets on main Estonian forums and called for help to carry out the attacks.

This is not a particular case, since on Zone-H as well as on other sources there are lots of documented cases attesting the dominant role of cyber communities in the support of digital initiatives.

Another basic characteristic of such communities is that members are bound by stronger ties than nationality: ideals, purposes, passions, religion or political views are the real elements to make cyber communities so cohesive and strong.

The power of digital Ummah, the borderless Islamic nation, is based just on these principles, and its strength was showed in a number of situations, such as in the case of Prophet Mohammed cartoons or in Lebanon conflict .

Of course, there are laws that should protect people from digital attacks, but they generally work to punish perpetrators once the attack has been carried out. And damages have been done.

Estonia succeeded in arresting one suspected and maybe there will be more convictions, but these measures could not prevent attackers from successfully leading their attacks. Moreover, it is not always so easy to pursue attackers, since the more an attack is widespread the less we have chance to trace and arrest its perpetrators.

No comment about who’s right or who’s wrong. We just say again that the strength of the Internet as a weapon is too powerful to be underestimated. These attacks are showing us, that we are potentially under the constant threat of a deep-impact attack. It is not matter of means or circumstances, it's just a matter of time.

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