Singapore: Information Of 14,000 HIV-Positive Locals And Foreign Visitors Exposed In Data Leak

Harin - Jan 31, 2019

According to Singapore's Ministry of Health, information of 14,000 locals and foreign visitors was leaked online after a data breach.

In an alert from Singapore’s Ministry of Health, contact information including names, addresses, identification numbers, phone numbers, HIV test results, as well as medical records of thousands of Singaporeans and foreign visitors infected with HIV, has been disclosed on a data breach online.

On the ministry’s website, it is confirmed that 14,200 HIV-positive individuals’ confidential health information had been leaked.

The statement read:

According to the Ministry of Health, Mikhy K Farrera Broches, a U.S. citizen was the one to get hold of the information. He was put in prison back in 2016 in Singapore, with charges of fraud and other offenses related to drugs. In order to get an employment pass in Singapore, he had falsified his HIV status.

Currently, it is impossible to get in touch with Brochez, who was expelled from Singapore after he has done serving a 28-month prison sentence. The Ministry of Health stated that for his criminal activity, he had been aided by his partner, who was a Singaporean doctor. This doctor used to be the head of the National Public Health Unit of the Ministry of Health.

Befunky Collage 3 — Brochez (left) and his partner

CNN cited a local charity that while HIV-positive tourists are not absolutely banned from entering Singapore, it is still not possible for them to receive permanent resident status or employment visas.

The leaked records consisted of information of 5,400 HIV-infected Singaporeans before Jan 2013 and 8,800 infected foreigners before Dec 2011.

The Ministry of Health continued: