ϭ INTERNET AND GLOBALIZATION By Lior Gelerenter and Motti Regev 1. Introduction and overview In April 2007, Estonia's decision to move a soviet World War II memorial from its place in central Tallinn resulted in what was described in the New York Times as "the first war in cyberspace". Coordinated web traffic flooding, commonly known as distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, brought down its government network, e-mail servers, and the websites of banks, universities and newspapers. Even with international aid, it was weeks before internet activity returned to normal. Though critical infrastructure such as electricity or water supply remained unharmed, the world took notice: NATO, Various governments and private security companies promptly began analyzing the methods of the attack, to prepare for the next time. The internet has become so intertwined in our lives and societies that severe damage to it might create a communication catastrophe. In an increasingly interconnected world, no one can risk the internet breaking down. But the New York Time's attempt to explain this event by invoking the image of war between nation-states may be misleading. Estonia blamed Russia for the attacks, but no proof was presented to counter Russia's angry denial. Experts disagree on the Russian government involvement, but it is certain that much of the attack was the result of mass mobilization by ethnic Russian volunteers from all over the world—including Estonia itself. This well orchestrated collective action was