Estonia Signs Cyber-Defense Deal with NATO Allies

Estonia has signed a deal with six other NATO members to make it the military alliance's leading expert on Internet-based warfare: It is a move seen as recognizing its surviving a major Web-based attack a year ago.

At a ceremony at NATO's headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday, May 14, Estonia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Germany, Italy, Spain, Slovakia, Lithuania and Latvia in which the seven countries agreed to fund and man a cyber-defense research and training center in Tallinn.

The signing ceremony paves the way for NATO as a whole to recognize it as a "center of excellence" and to use it as a main source of cyber-defense expertise. Full NATO accreditation is expected by the end of the year, officials said.

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