NATO confirmed that Iran is behind the cyber attack in Albania

NATO confirms statements by Albania and other allies in which they attribute responsibility for the cyber attack to the government of Iran, according to a separate statement from the North Atlantic Council on Thursday.

The statement expressed solidarity with Albania following a recent cyber attack on its national information infrastructure and strongly condemned "malicious cyber activities designed to destabilize and harm the security of allies and disrupt the daily lives of citizens."

"Malignant actors seek to degrade our infrastructure, disrupt our government services, extract intelligence, steal intellectual property and disrupt our military activities. Allies are committed to protecting their infrastructure, building resilience and strengthening their cyber defenses," it said.

The Council says that it will continue to be vigilant regarding such "malicious cyber activities". They also state how members support each other in deterring, defending and countering the full spectrum of cyber threats, including considering possible collective responses".

The North Atlantic Council is the main political decision-making body within NATO. The reaction from the key NATO body comes a day after Albania severed diplomatic ties with Iran, as authorities in Tirana believe the country launched a massive cyber attack against Albania this summer.

On Wednesday, September 7, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama accused Iran of directing a cyber attack on Albanian institutions on July 15, 2022, in an attempt to "paralyze public services and hack data and electronic communications from government systems."

NATO, on behalf of all member states, confirmed in a statement that it promotes a free, open, peaceful and secure cyberspace, and that it strives to improve stability and reduce the risks of conflict by promoting respect for international law and voluntary norms of responsible behavior of states in cyberspace, which recognized by all members of the United Nations.

"We call on all states to respect their international obligations to support a norms-based approach to cyberspace," says the North Atlantic Council.

At the same time, Albanian counter-terrorism police searched the empty Iranian embassy in Tirana on Thursday, hours after Iranian diplomats burned papers on the premises following the severing of diplomatic ties due to a cyber attack.

Police, wearing masks and helmets and armed with automatic rifles, entered the building - located just 200 meters from Rama's office - after two cars with diplomatic plates left, a Reuters reporter reported.

Tehran strongly condemned Tirana's decision to cut diplomatic ties, calling Albania's reasons for the move "baseless claims".

At the same time, Washington, Albania's closest ally, blamed Iran for the attack and promised to "take further measures to hold Iran responsible for actions that threaten the security of the American ally."

A few days after the cyber attack, the media from Tirana announced that the hackers had published the personal data of the members of the opposition that were saved in the state computers of Albania, such as personal, social and security numbers, names and photos.

Washington and London confirmed that Iran carried out the attack

The White House announced on Thursday that it will "support Albanian efforts to hold Iran accountable for the cyber attack."

The day before, after the announcement by the Albanian Prime Minister about the cyber attack and Iran's responsibility, it was announced from Washington that the United States "concluded that the Government of Iran carried out this reckless and irresponsible cyber attack and is responsible for subsequent hacking operations and information leaks".

Britain said on Wednesday that its National Cyber ​​Security Center had determined that Iranian state-linked actors were "almost certainly" responsible for a cyber attack on the Albanian government in July.

"Iran's reckless actions have demonstrated a blatant disregard for the Albanian people, severely limiting their ability to access basic public services," British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley said in a statement.

Earlier this month, US cyber security firm Mandiant said it concluded with "moderate certainty" that the attack involved "one or more threat actors, acting to support Iranian objectives", the BBC reports.

Mandiant noted that the attack occurred a few days before the start of a conference in the Albanian town of Manez that was linked to the exiled Iranian opposition group Mujahideen-e-Khalk. The event was later postponed after warnings of "terrorist" threats.

This American company also mentioned a video showing Albanian residence permits of alleged MEK members. The video was allegedly uploaded to a Telegram channel used by a group called "HomeLand Justice" that claimed responsibility for the cyber attack.

Manez is a town in Durrës district and a place where around 2013 MEK members have been allowed to live since 3.000 at the request of the US and the United Nations.