russia. and so estonia also took an early lead in cyber defense. the government got serious about cyber in 2007, after it decided to remove a soviet-era war memorial featuring a statue of a russian soldier from the center of its capital. almost immediately, estonia was under online siege. estonian web servers were flooded, causing many to crash. according to "wired" magazine, they were forced to disconnect from global networks. the attack lasted for three weeks, targeting many private and public sector websites. russia has always denied involvement, but the attack gave estonia a clarity of purpose. the next year, along with six other european countries, it established the one of a kind nato cooperative cyber defense center of excellence in the capital city. that's where each year the as tonyan's host locked shields and they wreaked havoc on cell phone towers.