Algerian Hackers Claim Massive Data Breach at Moroccan University in Cyber Retaliation

"We are Anonymous Algérie, we are firmly responding to Mohammed VI University in Rabat. We have hacked more than 75 gigabytes of databases, containing all the documents, identity cards, CVs, academic diplomas, and personal images of students, teachers and staff," says this recently formed group of 3,000 members via a post from FalconFeedsio on X. They explain that they orchestrated this cyberattack in response to an attack carried out by Moroccan groups against the University of Frères Mentouri Constantine, in Algeria.

This is not the first time that Algerian hackers have claimed attacks on Moroccan sites. At the end of December 2022, they had hacked the website of the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation. The perpetrators of the attack had stolen and shared thousands of sensitive data covering all regions of the kingdom for free on the Breached.vc platform. On December 17, they had orchestrated a cyberattack against the Cadi Ayyad University in Marrakech. A larger-scale attack, as more than 1.8 million personal, including banking, data had been stolen and sold on the platform for around 30 euros.

"A disaster that calls us to attention on the place that cybersecurity should occupy within our public institutions. The protection of sensitive personal data must be a priority. This attack on Cadi Ayyad University and the ministry demonstrates that our ability to protect this data remains vulnerable, especially since this data is not encrypted," cybersecurity expert Badr Bellaj told La Vie éco.