Albanian authorities accuse Iranian-backed hackers of cyberattack on Institute of Statistics

TIRANA, Albania — Albania’s cybersecurity authorities have accused a hacker group “sponsored” by the Iranian government of attacking the country’s Institute of Statistics earlier this month.

On Feb. 1, the institute reported becoming a target of a “sophisticated cyberattack” and that some systems were affected.

The National Authority for Electronic Certification and Cyber Security on Tuesday accused the Homeland Justice, “an attacking group sponsored by the Iranian government,” of the attack affecting 40 computers.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Albania has accused Iran in the past. After a cyberattack in July 2022, the government blamed the Iranian Foreign Ministry. The attack was thought to be in retaliation for Albania sheltering members of an Iranian opposition group. It led the government to cut diplomatic relations with Iran.

The United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency identified “Homeland Justice” as “Iranian state cyber actors.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry denied it was behind that attack.

The United States, NATO and the European Union supported NATO member Albania in the dispute.