US imposes more sanctions on Iran over cyberattack on NATO ally Albania

The United States on September 9 imposed additional sanctions on Iran for launching a cyberattack in July on NATO ally Albania. The sanctions were instated on Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security and its minister, Esmail Khatib, whom governments in Washington and Tirana blamed for trying to compromise their security. Albania, in a retaliatory move, cut diplomatic relations with Iran on Wednesday this week. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama accused the Islamic Republic of committing the cyberattack and asked the Iranian diplomats to exit the country within 24 hours. Albania also moved to shut down the embassy of Tehran permanently. 

In a video address, Albanian Prime Minister Rama said that the recent  cyberattack had "threatened to paralyse public services, erase digital systems and hack into state records, steal government intranet electronic communication and stir chaos and insecurity in the country."

'Reckless and irresponsible' cyberattack

US Treasury Department, in a statement on Friday, said that the Iranian ministry had direct involvement and links with several networks of cyber threat actors, entities that conducted the cyberespionage and ransomware attacks in Albania. US National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson Jake Sullivan condemned Iran’s cyberattack, stating that for weeks, the US government has been working alongside private sector partners to support Albania’s efforts to mitigate, recover from, and investigate the July 15 cyberattack. "We join in Prime Minister Rama’s call for Iran to be held accountable for this unprecedented cyber incident," Sullivan said. 

"We have concluded that the Government of Iran conducted this reckless and irresponsible cyberattack and that it is responsible for the subsequent hack and leak operations," said a US NSC spokesperson. 

Treasury Undersecretary Brian Nelson, also condemned the attack on Albania's cybersecurity, saying it "disregards norms of responsible peacetime state behaviour in cyberspace, which includes a norm on refraining from damaging critical infrastructure that provides services to the public." Tirana has claimed that it has retrieved the "irrefutable" evidence that confirmed Tehran's involvement in the cyberspace compromise. Tehran had backed "the act of serious cyberattack against the digital infrastructure of the government of the Republic of Albania," it declared. Iranian Foreign Ministry, in response, denied  that Tehran was behind the incident and labelled the conclusion as "ill-considered and hasty” and the US claims as "unfounded."