Algeria’s Ministry of Defense has been hit by a major cyber-attack that exposed sensitive personal data of army personnel, including senior officers and soldiers. The leaked information, now listed for sale on the dark web, reportedly contains names, photos, identification numbers, contact details, dates of birth, enlistment dates, family details and travel documents.
Algerian military data breach: scope and contents
The hacker posted a downloadable sample of the dataset to attract buyers; the sample is a 195.11 KB file that has been downloaded hundreds of times. Cybersecurity experts who analyzed the file confirmed its veracity. According to the data made available for sale, exposed fields include personnel names and photos, identification numbers, contact details, dates of birth, dates of enlistment, number of children, spouses’ names, parents’ names, academic degrees and passport information.
Defense spending and apparent cyber vulnerability
The breach comes amid heavy military spending: in 2025 Algeria spent over $25.4 billion on its military, the highest total in Africa and equal to 8.8% of the country’s GDP — second only to Ukraine worldwide as a share of the economy. The defense budget is funded primarily from hydrocarbon revenues channeled through the Ministry of National Defense (MDN). Last year, military spending accounted for 25% of total government expenditure.
The leak highlights shortcomings in the protection of military personnel records within Algerian defense systems. The compromised files are being offered on the dark web, where the posted sample was used to demonstrate the data for potential buyers. Cybersecurity experts’ confirmation of the sample’s authenticity represents a significant breach of operational and personal confidentiality for the Algerian armed forces.
