Ransomware Used Against Albania Linked To Iran

The recent cyber attacks that disrupted government systems in NATO member Albania have been linked to Iran. The hackers who carried out  cyber attacks on Albanian government websites were acting in response to the Iranian opposition group Mojahedin-e Khalq’s appearance at a conference in of Iranian dissidents in the Albanian city of Durres.  Forensic analysis of these attacks by researchers at Mandiant has revealed a new types of ransomware being used. 

Mandiant found the ransomware after it had been uploaded from Albania to a public malware repository a few days after the cyber attack was launched and have named it 'Roadsweep'. 

While the researchers could not confirm that the ransomware was indeed used in the attack, the malware encrypts files on compromised systems and then drops a ransom note. Mandiant researchers consider that other NATO members could be targeted in similar operations.

They also detected a website and Telegram channel named ‘HomeLand Justice’, which took credit for a ransomware operation aimed at the Albanian government. The site implied that a group of Albanian citizens unhappy with their government were responsible. 

However, on closer examination, this group appears to be an Iranian organisation designated as a terrorist group by the US State Department.

Following a thorough investigation, the researchers were able to determine that the Roadsweep ransomware shared code with a back door named Chimneysweep that allows its operators to take screenshots, log keystrokes and steal files. It was uploaded to a public malware repository along with a sample of a wiper malware that Mandiant has named 'Zeroclear'. 

While Mandiant was unable to confirm that this malware was used in this operation, Zeroclear was previously used by Iran-linked threat actors for disruptive activities in the Middle East. 

Albania's experience highlights the vulnerability of national IT infrastructure without adequate resilience. "The use of ransomware to conduct a politically motivated disruptive operation against the government websites and citizen services of a NATO member state in the same week an Iranian opposition groups' conference was set to take place would be a notably brazen operation by Iran-nexus threat actors," the researchers said.

Mandiant:    I-HLS:     Cyberscoop:   The Register:   Hacker News:     Security Week:      Industrial Cyber: 

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