Albania has experienced a renewed cyber attack, with the country’s interior ministry blaming Iran on Saturday, saying Tirana has also blamed prior attacks on its computerized infrastructure. “In order to neutralize the criminal act and secure the system,” the statement said, the authorities have shut down computer control systems at ports, airports and border posts.
“Computer systems of the National Police were affected on Friday by a cyber attack that, according to preliminary information, was carried out by the same actors who attacked the country’s public and government service systems in July,” the ministry said in a statement. “
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama tweeted, “Another cyber attack (committed by) the same attackers already condemned by Allied and Allies of Albania.”
US National Security Advisor Responding to the Albanian PM, tweeted, “I spoke with Prime Minister Ram of Albania today. The United States of America stands with our NATO ally in the aftermath of Iran’s cyber attack on July 15.”
Albania cut diplomatic ties with Iran on Wednesday after being blamed for a July 15 cyber attack that crippled public services and failed to access information and government communications infrastructure.
Accordingly on Friday, the US imposed sanctions on Iran’s intelligence ministry and its minister, Ismail Khatib, saying the attack “defies standards of responsible peaceful state conduct in cyberspace.”
The two countries have been bitter enemies for years since the Balkan state began hosting members of Iran’s opposition People’s Mujahideen, or Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK), on its soil.
Prime Minister Adi Ram on Wednesday accused Iran of directing cyberattacks against Albanian institutions on July 15 to “paralyze public services and hack data and electronic communications from government systems”.
The Prime Minister of Albania also asked Iranian diplomats and embassy staff to leave the country within 24 hours.
It was the first time Tirana had spoken about the alleged attack.
“The Council of Ministers has decided to terminate diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran with immediate effect,” Rama said.
“The said attack thwarted its objective. The damage could be considered minimal as compared to the attacker’s targets. All systems were fully operational and there was no irreversible wiping of data.”
Iran condemns America
Iran dismissed the allegation behind the cyber attack as “baseless” and called Albania’s decision to sever diplomatic ties “an ill-considered and short-sighted action”.
“The State Department strongly condemns the actions of the US Treasury Department in repeatedly approving the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said on Saturday.
“The US’s immediate support for the Albanian government’s false allegations … shows that the designer of this scenario is not the latter, but the US government,” he said in a statement.
Canaanites accused the US of “giving full support to a terrorist sect”, referring to Iran’s opposition People’s Mujahideen, or Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK), whose members are hosted by Albania.
The Iranian spokesperson alleged that the MEK is used as a tool to carry out terrorist activities, cyber attacks against Iran.
The MEK replaced Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in the unrest of 1979, which expelled the Shah, yet quickly fell out with new Islamic experts and embarked on a mission to oust the regime.
He reportedly sided with Iraq under the leadership of Saddam Hussein in the Iran–Iraq War of 1980–88.
With inputs from agencies.
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