Cyberattacks and the digital divide are creating new barriers to HIV services

As health and social services have moved online, protecting people’s privacy while making sure digital transformation does not widen existing inequalities has become an urgent priority for the UN’s HIV/AIDS programme, said Daria Ocheret in an interview with UN News.

Lessons from the pandemic

UNAIDS’ focus on digital security sharpened during the COVID-19 pandemic, when lockdowns pushed HIV testing and treatment services online almost overnight – exposing how unevenly people could access them.

In Zimbabwe, a clinic posted detailed guidance online on how to keep receiving antiretroviral medicines during lockdown. But many people living with HIV had only mobile data packages that opened social media and messaging apps, not ordinary websites.

“The gap between our assumptions about how digital technologies could improve access to services and what people could actually access was something that really struck me,” Ms. Ocheret told us.

In Kazakhstan, an organization founded by women living with HIV had to help clients obtain the QR codes needed to enter health facilities during the pandemic – some had no phone, others did not know how to use the system.

The digital divide, she said, runs not just between countries but within communities: among people living with HIV, LGBTQI people, sex workers and people who use drugs, some are highly connected while others lack devices, reliable internet or the skills to get online.

“How do we make sure that digital inequality does not create even greater barriers to HIV services? That requires systemic solutions,” she said.

From theoretical risk to real attacks

In 2020, UNAIDS helped train women’s organizations in Kazakhstan, Belarus and Ukraine in digital security, including the use of VPNs (virtual private networks). “At that time, these threats were still largely theoretical,” Ms. Ocheret said.

Not anymore. A 2025 survey of 21 LGBTI organizations in 17 countries found that most had suffered cyberattacks, often repeatedly, and had significant gaps in their ability to respond.

Digital violence, she stressed, cannot be separated from what happens offline: offices and shelters run by LGBTI groups are also attacked. Some 64 countries – around a third of the world – still criminalize same-sex relationships, though the Global AIDS Strategy aims to cut that to 10 per cent, a goal reaffirmed in a new political declaration adopted by countries on 22 June.

“It would be wrong to say that digital technologies have caused an increase in violence,” Ms. Ocheret said. 

“They have simply become another space where harm can be inflicted on key populations and on the organizations that support them.”

When a data breach can cost a life

Unauthorized access to client and staff records is among the gravest risks facing community groups, particularly where same-sex relationships, sex work or drug use are criminalized. 

UNAIDS partners in Eastern Europe and Central Asia have reported fake dating-app profiles, unlawful phone searches, social media surveillance, blackmail and disinformation campaigns targeting activists.

One Central Asian organization was hit by a string of hacks and phishing attacks that exposed its office address and lists of activists, triggering blackmail and harassment that forced it to shut down. 

Staff eventually restarted the work under a new organization with its own cybersecurity policy – though funding is too tight to update its defences regularly or issue secure devices.

New tools, new risks

Even as funding shrinks, chatbots and other digital services are becoming an appealing, low-cost way to reach people.

In Brazil, a chatbot built for young transgender people has proved surprisingly trusted – some users share things with it they would not tell a social worker.

But that trust depends on confidentiality. “If someone asks about the side effects of medicines used for HIV prevention or treatment, that question alone may indirectly indicate that the person is living with HIV. In settings marked by stigma and criminalization, that can put them at risk,” Ms. Ocheret said.

Shared phones compound the risk: researchers in Kenya found many people share a single device with relatives, neighbours or friends, so a chatbot notification or browsing history could inadvertently reveal someone’s HIV status or sexual orientation.

Closing the gap

Artificial intelligence is already helping with vaccine research, epidemiological analysis and health counselling, but Ms. Ocheret warned that better-funded organizations can afford secure software, IT staff and paid AI tools with stronger protections – while smaller groups often cannot.

Rather than build one universal fix, UNAIDS is backing tools developed by communities themselves and helping to scale up what already works. 

Her advice for organizations: regularly review digital and physical security risks, keep protocols updated, secure access to legal counsel, and set aside a dedicated budget for security.