VILNIUS, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- NATO plans to establish a cyber security center in the Estonian capital of Tallinn, Lithuanian Defense Minister Juozas Olekas said Friday.

    "I hope it will be the first practical step in the cyber security issue," Olekas said.

    NATO defense ministers, who are in Vilnius for a two-day meeting, are discussing a cyber defense strategy involving the construction of a center in Tallinn.

    Olekas said the defense ministers will make a formal decision on the issue later this year, and the Tallinn center will hopefully begin operations at the end of 2008 or the beginning of 2009.

    Six countries, including Estonia and Lithuania, will sponsor the center, with the participation of several other countries from the outset, he said.

    Cyber security was one of the topics discussed at the NATO defense ministers' meeting in Vilnius. NATO began to study the issue after Estonia suffered a massive cyber attack in April and May 2007 after the removal of a Soviet-era war memorial from central Tallinn led to unrest in the capital city.