TIRANA, Dec. 10 – On Saturday, world-known media The Independent published an article claiming Albania, a NATO member country, publishes sensitive information about its most senior intelligence operatives on the internet, thus engaging into a major and potentially dangerous breach that could have international consequences.
Part of the sensitive information the international media refers to are details about the operatives’ identities, vehicles, operational roles, travel movements and daily habits.
Moreover, salary and expense data posted in spreadsheets on the website of Albania’s Ministry of Finance show a wealth of details about the State Intelligence Service, including the locations of field offices, cash withdrawals, and minutiae such as the plumbers, technicians and mechanics they use.
SHISH – the Albanian Intelligence Service – has also published records showing names and national ID numbers of agents operating in Albania and abroad, including two holding sensitive posts in NATO headquarters, in Brussels.
According to The Independent, the same spreadsheets published online disclose the names, positions, salaries and expenses of at least eight senior clandestine Albanian operatives, some undercover, in Belgium, Greece, Kosovo, Italy, Macedonia and Serbia.
However, the media is not making names and other identifying details, in order to prevent retribution against low-level informants.
“The principle is that everything our agency does should be hidden, but we should follow all these rules and regulations,” one SHISH official reportedly told The Independent. “The rules and regulations don’t allow us to spend the money without reporting it.”
Meanwhile, intelligence professionals who were asked for their expertise on the issue said they were surprised by the revelation, as it could leave operatives on dangerous positions vulnerable to surveillance or blackmail by hostile organizations or criminals looking to infiltrate NATO.
“By getting into Albania’s system they can get into NATOs system,” Xhemal Gjunkshi, an opposition member of the Albanian parliament who serves on the National Security Commission and was a former Major-General in the army, told The Independent’s correspondents. “You start pulling a string and you end up in Brussels or London or the office of a supreme allied commander in the US.”
The international media also cited a former CIA field operative acquainted with SHISH, who said this kind of miscoordination could put lives at risk.
“Your admin can screw you up if they’re not paying attention,” he told The Independent on condition of anonymity because he continues to work on sensitive security matters. “You can put the budget online. But to put the names and the other details of agents – that’s insanity.”
Further on, the article claims that although a 2007 US State Department cable published by Wikileaks described SHISH as ‘a professional, largely apolitical intelligence service’ that is ‘excellent partners’ with the US government, one foreign diplomat complained that SHISH operates with little accountability or oversight.
The Independent also double-checked whether the names of the international operatives listed matched the data of Albanian diplomatic staff published around Europe – and they did.
Among what-should-be-private information, The Independent mentions a Durres female regional operative who withdrew big sums of money over the last year for “special payments,” a Gjirokaster agent who is recorded of withdrawing a cheque for what is describe as a secret fund and one set of 2017 payments referring to a NATO communication system.
Other information includes the license plates and models of vehicles used by spies and other potentially uncomfortable details about the domestic spying activities of SHISH.
Although The Independent claims that Albanian high-rank officials promised to remove the data once the risk level was communicated to them, during the months the information has been online, it likely left the Nato country vulnerable to infiltration by operatives of Russian or other intelligence agencies.
According to additional research conducted by the The Independent, The SHISH documents posted online date back to 2014, ever since Albania struggled to show the EU that it had shaken off its history of public corruption and was seeking to be more transparent and accountable.
Having been made aware of the leaks, The Independent writes that officials of the prime minister’s office, finance ministry, interior ministry, and foreign ministry attempted to remove the data, but also assign blame for the mishap.
Nonetheless, a former SHISH officer is reported to have told The Independent the problem is SHISH itself and the incompetence of the leadership.
“Sometimes people are hired not because of good performance or qualifications, but because of the influence of the politicians. Sometimes people coming into the security institutions aren’t well vetted. The problem starts at the top.”
