Speaking to journalist Rudina Xhunga on the “Flasim Shqip” podcast, Rama said Albania’s cyber-defence technology was “top of the top” and gave authorities significant capabilities to identify malicious activity.

He said Albania had a case file but that any attribution of a cyberattack required cooperation with other actors to verify the findings before publicly identifying those responsible.

“We have learned that before coming out and saying ‘it is this one, it is that one’, when it comes to attribution, we need to make sure our findings are accurate through cooperation with other actors,” Rama said, adding that the process was nearing completion.

Turning to the ongoing protests in Tirana, the government head said some narratives sought to fuel religious and ethnic divisions, including by linking the issue to Albania’s relations with Israel.

He rejected claims that the planned investment in Zvërnec was linked to Israel, saying the main investors were two Syrian brothers who are Qatari citizens.

Rama also highlighted the role of Albanians, both Muslims and Christians, in protecting Jews during World War Two, describing it as an important part of Albania’s history.

He said criticism of Israeli policies was possible but should not undermine relations between Albania and Israel.

“You can oppose Israel’s policies, but the relationship of Albanians and Albania with Israel is just as important as our relationship with Arab countries,” Rama said.

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Prime Minister Edi Rama shared today the NCSI report, according to which Albania is assessed for the progress made in strengthening the relevant structures for cybersecurity, developing national policies and strategies, as well as improving coordination mechanisms and response to threats in the digital space.

The NCSI evaluation is based on the analysis of national capacities for managing cyber risks, including the legal and policy framework, the protection of essential services, the management of cyber incidents, as well as capacity development and international cooperation.

Albania’s score reflects the fulfillment of a wide range of indicators related to institutional organization, incident response and preventive measures at the national level.

The NCSI report includes 112 countries and assesses over 40 indicators covering: legal and institutional framework, protection of critical services and personal data, crisis response and management capacities as well as international cooperation. /p.s./

In remarks congratulating the graduates, Hammond emphasized the importance of combating cyber crimes.

“Cyber crimes pose a significant threat to national security, economic stability, and the safety of citizens.  Criminals, terrorists, repressive regimes, and other actors misuse digital tools that threaten international peace and stability, harm others, and exert malign influence,” the U.S. diplomat said.

Hammond noted that a cyber incident was recorded against Tirana Municipality last week that Albania’s National Cyber Security Authority has attributed to Iranian actors.

“Modern wars start online. Protecting airports, hospitals, power grids and personal data is national defense.  Cyber readiness is mission critical,” Hammond stated.

“Malign actors are using increasingly sophisticated technologies, making it imperative for law enforcement and prosecutors to stay ahead of evolving threats.  Your training in this course has prepared you to tackle these challenges head on, ensuring that justice is served in the digital age,” she added.

Hammond underlined that is working with partners to advance a digital future that protects the safety and security of citizens by punishing those who use digital tools towards criminal ends.

She also highlighted that the United States provided millions of dollars in cyber assistance and expertise to Albania since the destructive cyber intrusions in July and September 2022.

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The two-day event brought together cyber security experts from Albania and Kosovo a simulation game of building the most resilient security system for the ICT environment and responding effectively to various cyber threats.

During the event, the participants were divided into two teams, which were tasked with finding solution to various scenarios of cyber incidents, with each team getting a predetermined budget and technical solutions to defend infrastructure.

Experts focused on problems identification and played out play out a scenario based on real incidents observed in cyberspace.

By hosting and supporting events like Cyber Fortress 2024, AKSK seeks not only to improve and enhance capacities of the cyber security experts, but also promote strong international cooperation.

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The Deputy PM emphasized that Albanian government has attached special focus on digitalization and cybersecurity as a top national priority in a bid to deliver safe public services to individuals and businesses.

According to her, Albania has set an example for delivering more than 99% of the public services online, including critical sectors of the country’s economy.

Balluku said that tackling cybersecurity is a top priority due to the escalating number of cyber threats.

She recalled the significant cyberattacks sponsored by foreign governments in July 2022, which disrupted essential services and spurred Albania to enhance its cyber security defenses.

Balluku also reiterated the critical importance of integrating digital advancements securely, ensuring dependable cross-border digital services that uphold citizens’ rights in the modern digital era.

The conference, attended by representatives from across the Western Balkans, emphasized the importance of collaborative efforts between public and private sectors, governance, and the European Union in tackling cyber threats. Balluku emphasized the need for such forums to receive governmental support and legislative backing, emphasizing coordinated action across sectors to strengthen cyber security measures.

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At a traditional year-end press conference, the government head commented on the latest cyberattacks on several Albanian public and private institutions.

“No infrastructure hosted in the area covered by the National Agency of Information Society has been affected. Every attack on the infrastructure covered by the Agency has been repelled,” PM Rama stated.

The Premier clarified that the Albanian Assembly has an independent server outside of the Agency’s domain.

“This is also the case with a series of other institutions. The government decided yesterday to forward to parliament a bill stipulating that all institutions, including the country’s courts, be grouped under one single national umbrella as a guarantee to ensure protection from the cyberattacks,” Rama said.

He added that the due infrastructure is being build and is designed to host all the servers under the defence of the new cyber defence agency.

“The cyberattack was a very savage one, but the largest part of the damage has been avoided. We should get used that all countries suffer such cyberattacks,” he concluded.

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Commengint on the integrated border management with the Western Balkan countries, Luchner said that intense discussions have taken place last year to cope with the increased migratory pressure and significant results have been achieved through common efforts.

“Implementation of the EU action plan on the Western Balkans has reduced migratory pressures on the Balkan routes by 25% on the first seven months of 2023, with around 50,000 less illegal border crossings compared to the same period of 2022,” he said.

“The European Commission expects all Western Balkan partners to continue their efforts in terms of visa policy alignment throughout 2023,” the Deputy Director-General DG HOME said.

Luchner also announced that the Commission expects a speedy implementation of the framework agreement between Albania and FRONTEX due to be signed tomorrow.

The EC senior official praised Albania and the Interior Minister Taulant Balla for the country’s commitment to regional cooperation in the fight against organized crime.

“The fight against organized crime and corruption remain important priorities and at the core of the EU’s political agenda. The Western Balkan partners are important allies in this fight and we call for continued cooperation,” he said

Luchner noted that international cyber attacks are becoming a major concern and threat to everyone.

“We are seeing that Russia is involved in malicious cyber activities in the Western Balkans. That’s why we need to improve monitoring these actions to find out what we can do better against these cyber attacks,” he said.

“Cyber ​​security has already become one of our key priorities in the Western Balkans as we already saw it on the new growth plan for the Western Balkans that President Von der Leyen announced in May 2023. Shortly after the cyber attacks in the region last summer, the EU accelerated its support, the technical assistance and a rapid response project, focusing on capacity building,” Luchner said.

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AKSHI Director attended a conference on cyber security in Tirana, an event hosted by the US Department of State and coordinated by the National Authority for Electronic Certification and Cyber ​​Security. The ambassador of the United States of America in Tirana, Yuri Kim attended the event.

Karçanaj underlined that the United States of America is assisting Albania to enhance cyber security.

“Cyber security is a top government priority and more significant investment projects to enhance cyber defence and capacities will follow,” Karçanaj said via the social media.

Karçanaj noted that integrity, commitment, technical skills and most importantly, cooperation with other government organizations and technology partners are essential.

On July 15, 2022, Albania became the target of a heavy cyber-attack on the digital infrastructure of the government in a bid to destroy it, paralyze public services and hack data and electronic communications from the systems.

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In his remarks at the ceremony on this occasion, Prime Minister Edi Rama noted that the next challenge is establishing a national cyber defence centre to be an added value for NATO, and provide services beyond the borders of Albania.

Honourable General Jones,

It is truly an exceptional privilege that we are given the opportunity to finalize today a discussion already underway some time ago between the Albanian government and the group led by you, by actually signing an agreement, which paves the way for an intensive cooperation to take all digital capacities and cyber defence system of the Republic of Albania to a whole new level.

We are certainly very honored to deliver on this with your group, already well known for the tremendous contribution it has made to the bolster of cyber security systems of both the US and other countries, but I would like to tell you that it is also a very special pleasure for us to have been granted the opportunity to cooperate with you personally, taking advantage of your experience and kindness to our country and given that our project is very ambitious, your presence makes it easier and boosts our confidence that we can succeed.

As we already discussed together, this is not simply about building a set of security systems, but about building a comprehensive security system, which in turn has the potential to provide an added value to NATO.

We are pretty aware that in the era we live in, the advantage or chance of less developed countries is unknown in history, unprecedented and unheard of in history, thanks to technology and as a paradox, insufficient development turns into an advantage and technology offers a chance to make extraordinary leaps, as we have already made, I believe, through total transformation of all public services delivery system and the official documents issued in the Albanian state via online services, allowing us to radically change the system this year as we are determined to shut down all the physical service windows so that our citizens are delivered online without them having to leave their homes or without being forced to stay on long queues to obtain public services they are entitled  to and of course thanks to your help to have a totally safe database of these services.

Likewise, our relationship with the United States and NATO as a whole has ushered in a new phase. We are hosting several important investment in the critical infrastructure and in the strategic aspect, including defence investments and spending and in this context we highly appreciate this opportunity to cooperate with you to address the great challenge of setting up a sizeable cyber defence centre, to be in the service of our army, but also all aspects related to the civilian part of society. It is an extraordinary challenge, but we are convinced that with your help, support, and courage not to be afraid of taking a faraway look, we will be able to have a national security centre, to be an added value for NATO, and provide services beyond the borders of the Republic of Albania.

Most recently, we went through a serious incident, the leak of personal data on the salary of employees in the Republic of Albania, an episode that has happened in all more developed countries, but that also teaches us a lesson that it is not only anonymous cyber attacks we must be protected from, but also the internal attacks committed by infiltrators, hired individuals, even irresponsible ones,. Therefore, I highly appreciate the aspect of our agreement, which has to do with the guarantee that the detrimental capacity of individuals will be much reduced and that a whole system of boosting the quality of human resources throughout the network of people dealing with digital services and cyber security will be put into operation, just as special programs will be put in place that your experience has at its disposal to ensure that the ability of any individual to penetrate the system is very limited as the system itself will be such that it will contain many firewalls.

I think this is very good news today, even for those who were unjustly hurt by the leak of their personal data and in a way, I believe that the leak of personal data on salaries was something bad that happened not only to hurt us, as my grandmother used to say, because all Albanians saw with their own eyes a problem, which today is easier for us than yesterday to address it, in terms of legal and moral relationship of many employers with the state and employees.

In the meantime, all citizens experienced the negative effects of an attack on the cyber system, making today’s agreement even more welcome for them as they come from a fresh harmful experience and today I am convinced, whoever is watching us, welcomes your and the Jones International group involvement in this effort of the Albanian government.

I would so much like to thank you, Mr. General, for coming here personally and for the trust, as well as the courage you give us through your presence. I would like thank all of your team that have clearly demonstrated their worth and usefulness in assisting us to be more protected in our critical energy systems and will assist us now to build a comprehensive approach to the system and make sure together that in a not too distant future, but in the next few years, we are proud of the cyber defence system in place, as a country which is developing very rapidly in terms of technology, but also as a small but proud and always dignified NATO country.

Thank you very much!

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