TIRANA, August 5/ATA/ The cyber attack that temporarily shut down many Albanian government digital services and websites in mid-July was likely the work of pro-Iranian hackers who aimed to disrupt an Iranian opposition group’s conference in Albania, “Mandiant”, one of the leading US companies dealing with cyber security issues reported on Thursday.
The news is announced by “Voice of America”, which has also spread the report of this company.
In its report the company expressed a “cautious belief” that the attackers had acted in support of Tehran’s efforts against dissidents, based on several factors: the timing, content published on a social media channel used to claim responsibility for the attacks of this nature and similarities to the virus program code that has long been used to target Farsi and Arabic speakers.
The July 23 and 24 conference by the Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq was canceled after warnings from local authorities of a possible terrorist threat. About 3,000 Iranian dissidents from this group, known mainly as the MEK, live in the Ashraf 3 camp in Manza, 30 kilometers away from Albania’s capital, Tirana.
The Free Iran World Meeting was to be held at the camp, and some American lawmakers were among the guests.
A group calling itself “Homeland Justice” claimed responsibility for the cyber-attack, using viruses aimed at extortion for financial gain, but which are increasingly being used for political purposes, particularly by Iran.
A few days ago, the Albanian government said that the hacking method was identical to last year’s attacks in other NATO countries, including Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday./j.p/r.e/p.s./
