Personal data breach of Christodoulides and Cypriot officials – revelations by Italian expert
Italian cybersecurity expert Andrea Mavila has revealed that the mobile phones and emails of President Christodoulides and other officials are exposed. Competent authorities of the Republic of Cyprus are assessing the matter.
Mobile phones and emails of Cypriot officials exposed to third parties
Mobile phone numbers and email addresses of the President of the Republic of Cyprus Nicos Christodoulides and other officials of the executive branch are conditionally accessible to anyone seeking malicious activity. This is the central revelation presented to Philenews by Italian specialist in cybersecurity and personal data matters Andrea Mavila.
Mavila has in the recent past spoken to media outlets about similar data breaches affecting senior officials in various countries, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Screenshots from special console
The expert transmitted to Philenews screenshots from a special console depicting consolidated personal details of President Christodoulides and other officials of the Republic. The screenshots record mobile phone numbers that President Christodoulides allegedly uses, as well as his email address.
Following an attempt to verify the information, Philenews confirmed that some telephone numbers of Greek Cypriot officials appearing in this data are indeed the numbers they use. For understandable reasons, it is not possible to publish further details.
The screenshots also present data breaches affecting members of the Christodoulides government scheme, officials of services and departments of the Republic of Cyprus, executives of semi-state organisations, as well as officials of cybersecurity services.
"Convincing but misleading messages"
Mavila explained to Philenews the manner in which such data can be exploited for malicious purposes, conducting an email spoofing demonstration. Through a related service, a malicious user could send a message by falsifying the sender field, so that the recipient would see the actual address of an official – without this entailing access to their account.
"The concern is that someone with bad intentions could potentially impersonate high-ranking state officials or chief executives of media outlets and send convincing, but misleading messages," said Mavila. "For example, they could fabricate a completely false announcement regarding government policy and present it as authentic. That is precisely why I consider the exposure of these personal and professional data to be so serious."
He also noted that if the exposed data falls into the wrong hands, "they can be misused for phishing, distribution of malware, social engineering attacks or other types of attacks". Regarding the details of Cypriot officials that were presented to him, he commented that the situation should not be underestimated, adding: "I have absolutely no intention of misusing this information."
Identity verification and RAI 3
Before Philenews heard what Mavila had to present, it contacted an executive from the news organisation of a European country who had dealt with the revelations of the Italian specialist, in order to verify his identity.
The matter was also covered by the investigative programme "Report" on the Italian state channel RAI 3. In a publication accompanying an episode that aired on 30 November 2025, it is stated that Mavila accessed platforms such as LUSHA, CONTACT KASPER, APOLLO.IO and UPLEAD – services based in the United States, Russia and Israel – and gained access to databases without breaching their systems.
These data included mobile telephones, home numbers and email addresses of heads of state, from the President of Italy Mattarella to Prime Minister Meloni, as well as officials from all ministries – including the Ministries of Defence, Foreign Affairs and the Interior. Details also appear of contact information for Crosetto, Tajani and Piantedosi, security services such as the DIS, the Police, the Carabinieri and the Guardia di Finanza, judicial officials, as well as executives of strategic companies such as ENI, Leonardo, Enel and Fincantieri and banks such as UniCredit, Intesa Sanpaolo and the Vatican Bank IOR.
Competent authorities assess
Competent persons entrusted with cybersecurity in the Republic of Cyprus are informed of the matters raised by Mavila and are assessing them according to their standing procedure and foreseen processes, according to information from Philenews. This does not necessarily mean that they share the positions expressed by the Italian expert.
Source: Philenews