The entire Internet infrastructure of the democratic Republic of Kyrgyzstan has been severely crippled by DDoS attacks originating in Russia. The intense attacks targeting the major ISPs in the country have been sustained for over a week, report researchers from information security firm SecureWorks.

The attacks which, according to SecureWorks analysts, bear the signature of the Russian cyber militia, have been directed to Kyrgyzstan's primary Internet Service Providers (domain.kg and ns.kg) and took them by surprise. “With just two smaller IPSs left to handle the load, these attacks from Russian IP address space have essentially knocked most of the small, Central Asian republic offline,” notes Don Jackson, security researcher for the Atlanda-based company.

The reason behind this cyber attack is the silencing of the political opposition in Kyrgyzstan, who strongly oppose the plans of closing the U.S. airbase established at Manas. The base is an important strategic asset for the U.S. military effort in Afghanistan, but the Kyrgyz President, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, plans to shut it down this year.

Russia, who operates the other single airbase in Kyrgyzstan, wants total control of that particular air space and has offered a deal to President Bakiyev in this respect. According to local sources, the Russian government offered a $300 million loan to the Asian Republic, plus promises of investments in the energetic sector estimated at $1.7 billion.

DDoS attacks aim at preventing the strong opposition from publicizing their alternatives to what they consider to be a dangerous plan, via the Internet. The Russian government would face serious criticism if this opposition gathered sufficient international support, explains Don Jackson. “That could result in opposing diplomatic pressure from the US and its allies,” he writes.

Similar cyber warfare attacks were launched by the Russian hackers in the past, too. Amongst the nations who suffered from similar intimidation tactics are Israel, Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania, and Georgia. Although there is no solid proof, “many believe that the catalyst for this mobilization is, at least in part, unofficial requests from Russian authorities passed down their contacts in Russia’s cyber underground,” the researcher explains.

“Since 2005, cyber attacks attributed to Russia’s cyber militia have increased in frequency. This is a pattern of escalation,” he also warns. There is a flourishing cyber criminal underground in Russia, which constantly extends by recruiting young students. But Russians are not the only ones engaged in such actions, the Chinese hackers also being credited with directing many similar cyber attacks, even against the U.S. military and other government networks.

The fact that a recent large-scale cyber-attack simulation, which brought together 200 representatives of numerous U.S. government institutions and agencies, revealed that the U.S. computer security policies are unfit for a potential cyberwar is worrying. However, if the recently published Homeland Security Agenda, in which the U.S. cyber infrastructure is declared a “strategic asset,”  is any indication, the Obama administration will make some progress in this respect.