TIRANA, Albania — Albania’s Parliament said on Tuesday that it had suffered a cyberattack with hackers trying to get into its data system, resulting in a temporary halt in its services.
A statement said Monday’s cyberattack had not “touched the data of the system,” adding that experts were working to discover what consequences the attack could have. It said the system’s services would resume at a later time.
Local media reported that a cellphone provider and an air flight company were also targeted by Monday’s cyberattacks, allegedly from Iranian-based hackers called Homeland Justice, which could not be verified independently.
Albania suffered a cyberattack in July 2022 that the government and multinational technology companies blamed on the Iranian Foreign Ministry. Believed to be in retaliation for Albania sheltering members of the Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, or MEK, the attack led the government to cut diplomatic relations with Iran two months later.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry denied Tehran was behind an attack on Albanian government websites and noted that Iran has suffered cyberattacks from the MEK.
In June, Albanian authorities raided a camp for exiled MEK members to seize computer devices allegedly linked to prohibited political activities.
Since 2013, some 2,500 Iranian exiles are sheltered in Albania, where they are not supposed to engage in any political activity and must abide by the country’s laws.
The United States, NATO and the European Union supported NATO member Albania in the dispute.
In a statement sent later Tuesday to The Associated Press, MEK’s media spokesperson Ali Safavi claimed the reported cyberattacks in Albania “are not related to the presence or activities” of MEK members in the country.
Safavi also slammed the assertion that MEK members cannot engage in political activity while in Albania, saying they should be extended all rights, including freedom of expression and assembly.
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