TIRANA, Oct. 5 – As the country’s public services are shifting online and more and more people have access to the internet, Albania is facing increased cyber security challenges related to external non-EU and NATO stakeholders and online radicalism, experts warned at a conference in Tirana this week.
Albanian national security experts say the country is particularly at risk of Russian influence though online media and cyber-attacks as well as online recruitment for terrorism purposes by other stakeholders.
“We are heading toward e-government and that requires stronger capacities to defend from external stakeholders which are always more skillful, accurate and well-prepared,” expert Enri Hide told VoA in the local Albanian service.
According to him, NATO and EU candidate Albania faces key shortcomings in national security issues such as catastrophes, terrorist attacks, human and economic security.
“This requires above all cooperation with partners, as we don’t possess those capacities. NATO has much more sophisticated and tested capacities and more attention should be paid and awareness raised on the interest of Russia, a new stakeholder in the Balkans, which is penetrating into non-traditional security fields such as cyber security,” said Hide, adding that awareness on cyber security is still at an initial stage.
Switzerland-based World Economic Forum says the cost to the global economy of cybercrime has been estimated at $445 billion a year. “Companies need to have a strategy in place to prepare for when, not if, they are hit by a cyber-attack. Cybercrime has no boundaries or jurisdictional restrictions, hence collaboration is essential,” says the World Economic Forum.
Expert Enri Hide says there are some cases showing there has been increased attention by stakeholders such as Russia to penetrate the Balkans in two ways, first of all through the media, especially online media, and secondly through cyber-attacks. “Both of them are related to cyber-attacks and I think the Albanian state authorities should strengthen capacities in this respect,” he adds.
Albania already has in place a cyber-crime law, but experts say the country’s authorities are not well-prepared to handle everyday situations related to cyber-attacks and online radicalism.
“The cyber war is a real battle that is carried out in private sectors and state institutions. In fact, Albania is still in its initial steps and needs a lot of assistance not only theoretically, but must also undertake emergency measures in practice to increase capacities and prevent possible attacks,” says Arben à‡ejku of the Albanian Center for Good Governance.
“Everything that goes online and is stored in computers is at risk and that’s why the researchers’ appeal is that the Albanian government should undertake measures and immediately provide concrete opportunities to protect citizens from these kinds of attacks on the one hand and also strengthen cooperation with NATO in better and clearer ways on cyber security as one of the main pillars of our national security,” said à‡ejku.
Online recruitment for terrorist purposes is also reported as a potential threat although there have been no new reported cases of Albanians travelling to Syria or Iraq to join ISIS as of 2015.
