Translations: Tirana
Case info
Personal info
- Regional centerTirana
- Who was attacked?Group
- Group members' names and surnamesShqiptarja.com, Report TV
Media outlet
- Name of the media outletShqiptarja.com, Report TV
- Type of media platformOnline Media
- Source of information about the incidenthttps://shqiptarja.com/lajm/hakerat-ruse-sulmojne-faqen-online-te-shqiptarjacom-dhe-report-tv-per-te-bllokuar-percjelljen-e-informacionit
Incident Data
- Date of incident16.10.2023
- CityTirana
- Perpetrator(s)Known (suspected)
- Type of incidentlife_threat
Action by the authorities
Action taken by the journalists' association
- Was journalist's association informed by the journalists directly?Yes
Shqiptarja.com and Report TV targeted by Russian hackers in a cyber attack.
Shqiptarja.com and Report TV, popular Albanian news sites, recently fell victim to a cyber-attack carried out by a group of Russian hackers known as ‘CyberArmy’. The attack, which began on Sunday, October 15, at around 20:00, continued until Monday, October 16. It was later revealed that the attack took the form of a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack.
In order to stop the distribution of information, hackers tried to attack the servers of the websites, causing temporary interruptions and making the sites inaccessible. To combat the attack, IT specialists implemented a protection system through Cloudfare, working tirelessly to neutralize the cyber threat and restore normal operation of the affected sites.
Hacker group CyberArmy publicly claimed responsibility for the attack in a social media post on Sunday evening. In the post, they explicitly mentioned the targeting of Shqiptarja.com, one of the main news portals in Albania, known for its coverage of various fields such as politics, economy, social issues, sports, and culture.
This incident marks the second time that Shqiptarja.com and Report TV have faced such a cyber attack, the previous attack happened in May of this year.