TIRANA, Sept 21 /ATA/-By I.Vata/ – A NATO team has arrived in Albania to help the government at a political and technical level to strengthen the country’s cyber defence capabilities in the wake of the cyber-attacks on the government servers.
The visit by the NATO delegation comes after the Prime Minister Edi Rama’s communication with the Alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
The NATO delegation, headed by the NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, James Appathurai, first met with the Defence Minister Niko Peleshi.
Speaking at a joint press conference with the Deputy Secretary General of NATO, James Appathurai, the Minister of Defense Niko Peleshi stated that the security and defence systems were not affected by the attack, because they are disconnected from the general communication and information network.
“The NATO team is visiting our country to provide assistance to enhance cyber defence, learn about the current situation and explore ways to tackle the country’s needs in the future. Albania’s specialized teams, in close collaboration with our allies, acted and responded quickly after the cyber-attacks against the country’s information technology systems and infrastructure. The attacks aimed at totally destroying the government platforms and the public service delivery systems, but they failed to do so. Our allies strongly condemned the attacks and sided with Albania through statements and assistance in the cyber field. After 5 weeks of intense work, the government servers and platforms have been fully restored,” Peleshi said.
“These attacks have shown that we cannot be permanently protected, but that we must be vigilant by investing more in cyber war. Numerous investments have been made these years, but this is a new war after the Russian aggression in Ukraine, which has upset the balance and changed the security scheme. As for security and defence systems, they were unaffected by the attack because they are disconnected and are not in the general communication and information network. However, we have increased the defence system,” the Defence Minister added.
On his part, the NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General James Appathurai pledged technical assistance for Albania to build a defence network against cyber attacks.
“NATO will also consider Albania’s long-term needs to build a defence network against these cyber attacks, and Albania is taking steps forward in this area. Due to the large scale and relentless cyber-attacks against a NATO member like Albania, you can be sure of the practical defence of the Alliance,” he added.
The NATO delegation will also meet the Foreign Ministry officials, representatives of the Ministry of Interior, as well as the National Agency for Information Society .
/j.p/r.e/u.sh/
