TIRANA, September 7 /ATA/ The government of Albania decided the immediate break off diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Prime Minister Edi Rama said today in a video message that the decision of the Albanian government is in response to the serious cyber attack on the digital infrastructure of the Government of the Republic of Albania.
“On July 15, our country became the object of a serious cyber attack, which had as its objective the destruction of the digital infrastructure of the Government of the Republic of Albania, the paralyzing of public services, as well as the theft of data and electronic communications from government systems. The attack did not achieve its goal. If compared to the aggressor’s objectives, the damage may be considered minor. All systems were restored and nothing was irretrievably lost.”
“For weeks, they worked in parallel in three shifts to restore all systems to work and for the in-depth investigation to find the aggressor. In cooperation with specialized partner agencies of digital anti-terror, which brought their teams in Tirana, it was made possible to discover that the July 15 attack on Albania was not an operation by individuals or independent groups in the world of organized cyber crime, but a state aggression. The in-depth investigation provided us with irrefutable evidence that the cyber aggression against our country has been orchestrated and sponsored by the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has engaged four groups for the attack on Albania. Among them, one of the most notorious groups of international cyber terrorism, author or co-author of previous cyber attacks on Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Emirates, Kuwait and Cyprus,” said Rama.
“We have informed our strategic allies, NATO partner countries and several other friendly countries, with whom we have also shared the irrefutable results of the investigation that proves the source of the aggression against our country”, said Rama.
“Based on the above, the government decided with immediate effect to terminate diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran. An official note has been sent to the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran informing about the decision. The embassy staff has been requested to leave the territory of the Republic of Albania within 24 hours, all diplomatic and technical-administrative personnel, including security personnel, stressed Rama.
“This extreme measure, not at all desired but rather obliged, is in full proportion to the seriousness and danger of the cyber attack which threatened to paralyze public services, delete systems and steal state data, steal electronic communications within the system government and the promotion of insecurity and chaos in the country”, said Rama.
“The failure of this massive attack on our country, thanks to the resistance of the systems we set up and the help of the special groups that joined us in this war, is not the end of the cyber threat, but simply proof that Albania has now also entered thanks to digital development the broad map of the cyber security war. But, the good news is that we know what we have to do and how we have to do it so that no one can touch us, just as we also know that we will do the right things because we have the right partners” concluded Rama. /j.p/p.s./
