Estonia imposes strict restrictions on emails from Russian servers

Emails sent from Russian servers, including addresses ending in “.ru”, will no longer reach many Estonian state institutions as quickly as before. They will instead be diverted to quarantine for additional checks.

Justice and Digital Affairs Minister Liisa Pakosta said the measure forms part of Estonia’s efforts to protect public institutions from cyberattacks. “Since 2022, the number of cyberattacks against Estonia has increased exponentially. It is completely clear that a very large proportion of these cyberattacks is connected to Russia. Unfortunately, we can see that we need to strengthen our protection, and we are doing this in many different areas and places,” she said.

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Since 2022, the number of cyberattacks against Estonia has increased exponentially. It is completely clear that a very large proportion of these cyberattacks is connected to Russia. Unfortunately, we can see that we need to strengthen our protection, and we are doing this in many different areas and places.

Pakosta said Estonia’s defensive efforts had helped its institutions withstand cyberattacks. She contrasted this with mass cyberattacks against the public sector in Latvia and Lithuania, which she said had succeeded. She described the email controls as one small measure within broader efforts to improve cybersecurity.

The measure will not apply to every Estonian state institution. Some bodies have adopted stricter rules. Estonian courts have already announced that they will ask parties to legal proceedings not to use email addresses ending in “.ru”.

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Unfortunately, as we could read in the news, mass cyberattacks against the public sector in Latvia and Lithuania were successful. We need to strengthen our cybersecurity, and this is just one small measure among all the wide-ranging actions we are implementing to improve it.