Mandiant, a leading U.S. cybersecurity firm, expressed “moderate confidence” last month that the attackers were acting in support of anti-dissident efforts. A group calling itself “HomeLand Justice” claimed credit for the cyberattack that used ransomware to scramble data. Ransomware is best known for its use in for-profit extortion, but is being increasingly wielded for political ends, particularly. The claim by “HomeLand Justice” came on a Telegram channel in which documents purported to be Albanian residence permits of members of the opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq group — best known as MEK — were posted, along with video of the ransomware being activated.
At the time, the Albanian government said the hackers’ methods was identical to attacks last year in other NATO countries, including Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Belgium. Rama on Wednesday accused of recruiting one of the most notorious international cyberattack groups that was involved in similar attacks on Israel, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Kuwait and Cyprus. He said Tirana had shared the data and the investigation results with strategic partners and NATO countries.
