Albania Shuts Down Public Services, Government Systems After External Cyber Attack

A majority of civil state offices across Albania were shut by the government in May, a role that was handed over to the online portal e-Albania. A majority of civil state offices across Albania were shut by the government in May, a role that was handed over to the online portal e-Albania.

All online public services and government websites in Albania were closed on Sunday following a synchronised cyberattack from outside the country, the Albanian National Agency for the Information Society (AKSHI) said in a press statement.

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"In order to withstand these unprecedented and dangerous strikes, we have been forced to close down government systems until the enemy attacks are neutralized," the statement read.

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"The national agency is currently working together with the Microsoft team, the Jones Group International team, and the teams of Albanian companies in the ICT field to prevent this cyberattack from damaging or compromising the Albanian systems of information," added the statement.

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As of May 1, the Albanian government has decided to close the majority of civil state offices across the country that provided several services and documents to the citizens, giving this major role to the governmental online portal e-Albania.

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Last month, a cyberattack temporarily knocked out public and private websites in Norway. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said that to his knowledge the attack “has not caused any significant damage.”

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The distributed-denial-of-service (DDOS) attack targeted a secure national data network forcing the temporary suspension of online services for several hours after the incident, the Norwegian National Security Authority had revealed.

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