U.S. imposes sanctions on Iran agency over hacking

The U.S. government on Friday imposed sanctions on Iran’s intelligence agency and its leadership in response to malicious cyberattacks on Albanian government computer systems in July.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security and Esmail Khatib, who heads the ministry, for what it said were cyber-related activities against the U.S. and its allies.

Albania, a NATO member, cut diplomatic ties with Iran and expelled its embassy staff this week over the cyberattack. It was the first known case of a country cutting diplomatic relations over a cyberattack.

The Albanian government has accused Iran of carrying out the July 15 attack, which temporarily shut down numerous Albanian government websites.

Microsoft, which assisted Albania in investigating the cyberattack, said in a blog post Thursday that it was moderately confident the hackers belong to a group that has been publicly linked to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security.

Since at least 2007, Iran’s intelligence agency and its proxies have been accused of conducting cyber operations around the world.