Albania accuses Iran of the July cyberattack and suspends diplomatic relations

The entire staff of the Islamic Republic of Iran Embassy was asked to leave within 24 hours.

This decision follows the termination of diplomatic relations with Iran following the attribution of an Albanian government infrastructure cyberattack to Iranian threat actors in July.

The US government also formally blamed Iran for the July attack on Albania.

In July 2021, President Joe Biden warned that cyberattacks that lead to severe security breaches could lead to a “real shooting war”.

In June, NATO said cyberattacks are comparable to “armed attacks” in some circumstances.

The United States will take further action to hold Iran accountable for actions that threaten the security of a U.S. ally and set a troubling precedent for cyberspace.