Data breach of 364,036 health records reported in northern Cyprus

The newspaper Yeni Duzen reports that the personal data of 364,036 individuals who interacted with public health services in the occupied territories has been leaked on the dark web for the past 5.5 months. The compromised information includes full names, nationalities, national identification and passport numbers, gender, dates and places of birth, and home addresses. Cybersecurity experts from the Netherlands have confirmed the authenticity of the leak, warning that the data could facilitate crimes such as identity theft, fraud, social engineering, and blackmail. The experts classified this incident as a high-level security crisis rather than a routine data breach. Additionally, hackers claim to possess a separate database of individuals diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. The Communal Liberation Party (TKP) has described the incident as a major scandal and is calling for a thorough investigation. Party officials noted that they had previously raised concerns regarding cybersecurity vulnerabilities last week. Authorities in the region have not yet provided a formal response to the verification of these claims.