Algeria’s ministry of Defense, which spends billions of U.S. dollars on the purchase of military equipment, has failed to protect sensitive data of its army, including the personnel information of Algerian senior officers, soldiers, their assignments, military bases and installations
In 2025, Algeria spent over $25.4 Billion on its military, the highest in Africa and 8.8% of the country’s GDP, second only to Ukraine globally as a share of the economy. Algeria’s defense budget is funded primarily from hydrocarbon revenues channeled through the Ministry of National Defense (MDN). The country’s military spending consumed last year 25% of total government expenditure.
Yet, the Algerian Defense ministry has failed to protect the military personal data from a cyber-attack, resulting in the leaking by a hacker of the names and photos of military personnel, their identification number, contact details, their DOB, date of enlistment, number of children, wife’s name, names of their parents, academic degrees, passport…
All these sensitive data are listed for sale on the dark web, exposing the fragility of the cyber-security of Algerian military systems. The hacker has posted a downloadable sample for those interested in buying the Algerian military personal data.
The 195.11 KB file, which recorded so far hundreds of downloads, has been analyzed by cybersecurity experts who confirmed its veracity, dealing a hard blow to Algerian army.
