Albania resumes public online services, probes cyberattack

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — The Albanian government said Thursday that most public websites were working again while an investigation to find the source of a cyberattack that disrupted them continues.

Prime Minister Edi Rama said the government suspects the attack was “an aggression organized by a country” and not launched by hackers or organized criminal groups that target “bigger and more powerful countries” like the United States.

Investigators are conducting what Rama described as the most delicate part of their probe, which is gathering evidence to identify one of the two countries suspected of the attack.

Authorities said a “wide and complex” cyberattack tried to hit critical government systems on Friday afternoon before they were shut down.

Albanian investigators are working on the case with experts from Microsoft and Jones Group International, a U.S.-based security consulting firm.

Albania, a NATO member since 2009, this week started membership negotiations with the European Union. The small Balkans nation has been a temporary member of the U.N. Security Council for two years.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.