The White House reacts after the government's decision to cut off diplomatic relations with Iran, following the latter's cyber attacks.
" The United States strongly condemns Iran's cyber attack against our NATO ally, Albania. We join Prime Minister Rama's call for Iran to be held accountable for this unprecedented cyber incident. The United States will take further action to hold Iran accountable for actions that threaten the security of a US ally and set a troubling precedent for cyberspace.
For weeks, the U.S. government has been on the ground working alongside private sector partners to support Albania's efforts to mitigate, recover, and investigate the July 15 cyber attack that destroyed government data and disrupted government services to the public. . We have concluded that the Government of Iran carried out this reckless and irresponsible cyber attack and that it is responsible for the subsequent hacking operations and leaks.
Iran's behavior disregards norms of responsible state behavior in peacetime in cyberspace, which includes a norm to refrain from damaging critical infrastructure that provides services to the public. Albania sees the affected government networks as critical infrastructure. Malicious cyber activity by a state that intentionally damages critical infrastructure or otherwise impairs its use and operation to provide services to the public can have domestic, regional, and global cascading effects; present a high risk of harm to the population; and can lead to escalation and conflict.
We will continue to support Albania's long-term remediation efforts and invite partners and allies to join us in holding malicious cyber actors accountable and building a secure and resilient digital future," the announcement reads.