Albania blamed the Iranian government for a cyberattack

• Just days after the White House denounced Tehran for a hack that crippled Albanian government services 
• Edi Rama, the prime minister of Albania, claimed in a tweet that the “same aggressors” who carried out the hack in July were responsible for the cyberattack.
• The attack in July happened ahead of a meeting in Albania that MEK members were scheduled to attend.

Just days after the White House denounced Tehran for a hack that crippled Albanian government services in July, Albania blamed Iran for a cyberattack against computer systems used by the Albanian state police.

According to a statement from Albania’s interior ministry, the most recent hack compelled Albanian officials to temporarily take offline their Total Information Management System (TIMS), a system for tracking the data of people entering and departing Albania.

Edi Rama, the prime minister of Albania, claimed in a tweet that the “same aggressors” who carried out the hack in July were responsible for the cyberattack. The interior ministry reported that the hack happened on Friday, and by early Saturday evening, the government said it anticipated having all aspects of the TIMS restored soon.

For the Biden administration, which this week vowed to “hold Iran accountable for actions that jeopardize the security of a US partner” and NATO member in the wake of the July cyberattack, the episode presents a brand-new issue.

For reportedly carrying out the July breach, which forced certain Albanian government services offline and left the Albanian government racing to recover, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Iran’s spy agency on Friday. According to the White House, US personnel have been assisting on the ground for weeks. Albania broke diplomatic ties with Iran in what may be the first instance of hacking leading to a rupture in international relations.

The attack in July happened ahead of a meeting in Albania that MEK members were scheduled to attend. MEK is an Iranian group that calls for the fall of the Iranian government and is regarded as a terrorist organization by Tehran.

NATO countries issued a statement on Thursday saying, “We strongly condemn such harmful cyber actions aiming to destabilize and undermine an Ally’s security, and disrupt the daily lives of populations.”

Iran’s embassy in Brussels “rejected the unfounded charges” that Iran was responsible for the cyberattack in response on Friday.

On Saturday, a request for comment regarding the most recent hacking incident was not immediately answered by a representative of the Iranian Permanent Mission to the UN.

According to an archived State Department page, the US government assisted Albania, a partner in the Bush administration’s self-described “war on terrorism,” in 2007 with the deployment of the TIMS hardware and software systems for processing immigration.

The collective defence provision of the NATO pact, which obliges all members to repel an assault on one member, might be triggered by a cyberattack, according to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. However, that idea has never been put to the test in real life, and it’s not apparent what the cutoff point is for such a collective defense.

John Hultquist, vice president of intelligence analysis at security firm Mandiant, which looked into the July attack, told the media, “Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be surprised if it were true [that Iran was behind the current hack].” “Diplomatic solutions don’t seem to discourage states like Iran. It seems as though they ultimately absorb the cost of these incidents.”

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