TALLINN, May 26 (Xinhua) -- A cyberattack against the Estonian state information systems is seen as more likely year-on-year, according to the results of public opinion surveys.
On the probability of the occurrence of cyberattacks in the forthcoming years, 69 percent of the respondents considered it very or rather probable in the survey carried out in March this year, against 67 percent in two previous surveys conducted in October and March 2017 respectively, Xinhua learnt on Saturday.
Among the Estonian respondents, 35 percent answered "Very probable" and 44 percent for "Rather probable" on the issue, while the percentage for non-Estonians turned out to be 15 percent and 26 percent respectively in the latest survey "Public Opinion and National Defence".
Meanwhile, 59 percent of the respondents believe that a foreign state may interfere in Estonia's policy or economy in their own interests in the March survey, against 58 percent and 61 percent respectively in the two previous surveys.
On Estonia's membership in NATO, 71 percent of the respondents favored the membership, and 19 percent are against, while 89 percent of Estonians are in favor of the membership, the indicator for the Russian-speaking respondents is considerably lower, only 32 percent, shows the latest survey.
Commissioned by the Estonian Ministry of Defence, the survey of Turu-uuringute AS polled 1,209 residents of Estonia over the age of 15 in March on a wide range of issues including improvement of Estonian life, security situation and guarantee, willingness to participate in defence activities and training, among others.
A series of cyber attacks occurred in April 2007 that swamped websites of Estonian organizations, including Estonian parliament, banks, ministries, newspapers and broadcasters, according to Estonia's Computer Emergency Response Team.
The NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence was established in Tallinn, Estonia in May 2008.