OREANDA-NEWS. October 12, 2012. "We must find the correct balance between Internet freedom and Internet security," told President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, who took the floor today in Budapest at a high-level cyber conference with Catherine Ashton, the EU's High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Carl Bildt, the Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The international conference, organised by the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has brought a number of influential politicians from different countries, IT specialists and experts to Budapest and focuses on credibility and security in the cyber sphere. According to President Ilves, cyber security is often regarded as a part of military protection; however, we must think out of the box, as cyber attacks are often aimed against civic infrastructures.

"The enemy, may it be another country or hackers supported by a country, can aim a cyber hit against our open society, such as a banking, media or state agency network," President Ilves told.
"Estonian e-governance combines courage and the skills of using information technology solutions for the benefit of our citizens, while ensuring security on the other hand. We trust such a system," assured the Estonian Head of State, as he stressed the importance between the public and private sector in cyber sphere.

President Ilves concluded his presentation by emphasising that Estonia will never agree to support any form of regulation of Internet freedom or censoring, as: "No security, cyber security included, can be achieved at the expense of people's fundamental freedoms."

For this very reason, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) conference that will take place in December in Dubai is highly important, as it will largely determine the future trends of Internet freedom. "Estonia is and will be against any attempts aimed at regulating freedom of expression," told the Estonian Head of State.