An alarming trend of cyber attacks on key infrastructure

In an unprecedented reaction, Albania severed diplomatic relations with Iran yesterday and expelled Iranian diplomats after blaming the July cyber attack on the Islamic Republic. Tirana's move was supported by Washington, which promised to take action in response to the attack on the NATO ally.

Albania has ordered Iranian diplomats and embassy employees to leave the country within 24 hours.

"Such an extreme response is fully proportional to the seriousness and risk of a cyber attack that threatened to paralyze our public administration, delete digital systems and break into state data, steal government intranet electronic communication and cause chaos and instability in the country," said Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, announcing the decision to sever diplomatic relations with Tehran.

US government experts in cooperation with private sector partners conducted an investigation to help Albania recover from the attack that destroyed government data and disrupted public services, the White House announced.

"We have concluded that the government of Iran carried out this reckless and irresponsible cyber attack and is responsible for the subsequent hacking and data breaches," the statement said.

The US said that the attack was unprecedented because it violated the peacetime norm of not harming key infrastructure that the public relies on.

"The U.S. will take additional actions to hold Iran accountable for actions that threaten the stability of the U.S. ally and set a dangerous precedent for cyberspace," the White House National Security Council said in a statement.

Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned Albania's decision to cut off diplomatic relations with Tehran, rejecting "baseless claims" about the reasons for that move.

Albania and Iran have had strained relations since 2014, when Albania accepted around 3000 members of the opposition group the People's Mujahideen Organization of Iran, who were housed in a camp near Durrës.

"This is probably the strongest government response to a cyberattack ever recorded," John Hultquist, vice president at the American cybersecurity firm Mandiant, told Reuters. "Although we have witnessed a number of diplomatic consequences in the past, they have never been as serious and extensive as this procedure".

Tirana's move came days after Montenegro blamed the criminal group "Kuba Ransomware" for a digital attack on government infrastructure.

"Although these incidents are probably unrelated, regular attacks on government infrastructure are an alarming trend," said Hultqvist.