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Denmark data breach exposes personal records of up to 8.8 million people

Attackers accessed names, addresses, and national ID numbers from Denmark's Central Person Register by abusing a private vendor's legitimate access, compromising records across a population of 6 million.

Digital illustration of a hooded hacker silhouette overlaid with streams of code and computer data.
Image: @MarioNawfal

A major security breach in Denmark has compromised the personal records of up to 8.8 million people, according to reports by Bloomberg and The Straits Times. While the Danish government stated that the leak of names, addresses, and state-issued identification numbers affected 8 million individuals, including deceased people and those living abroad, SecurityWeek later reported that approximately 8.8 million records were exposed from the country's Central Person Register (CPR).[5][3][1][4][6]

According to the Danish CPR Administration, the perpetrators did not directly break into the register. Instead, they abused a private Danish company's authorized access credentials to harvest data quietly throughout September. The CPR number functions as Denmark's equivalent of a Social Security number and is essential for daily services ranging from healthcare to banking.[2]

The register returned more entries than Denmark's population of 6 million because it retains information on deceased individuals and past residents. The Next Web reported that the national register was queried 14 million times over a ten-day stretch, with officials only uncovering the massive exfiltration after an invoice for the database lookups arrived.[2][7]

Key facts

  • Reports from Bloomberg and The Straits Times indicated that unauthorized individuals accessed personal data belonging to roughly 8.8 million people in a Danish government leak.
  • The Danish government stated that the breach involved names, addresses, and ID numbers and impacted 8 million people, including the deceased and expatriates.
  • Attackers did not hack the CPR database directly, but abused a private Danish company's legitimate access credentials to extract records throughout September.
  • The CPR register holds more entries than Denmark's living population of 6 million because it includes deceased persons and people who moved abroad.
  • Denmark's register received 14 million queries within ten days, and authorities only discovered the breach when a bill for the lookups arrived.

Sources 路 6 sources

  1. TE

    TechCrunch@TechCrunchPost on X 路

    The Danish government said the breach of names, addresses, and state-issued ID numbers affects 8 million people, including people living abroad and the deceased. https://t.co/OsMtdiEC5m

    Open source
  2. MN

    Mario Nawfal@MarioNawfalPost on X 路

    馃嚛馃嚢 Hackers just got their hands on the names, addresses and national ID numbers of about 8.8 million people in Denmark's central population register. That's more people than actually live in Denmark, since the register also covers the dead and those who moved abroad. The CPR number is Denmark's version of a Social Security number, used for pretty much everything from banking to doctor's visits. They didn't even need to break in. They abused a private Danish company's legal access to the system and quietly pulled the data all through September. Denmark is far from the only one, with government databases from France to Japan getting raided this year and millions of citizens' details ending up for sale online. Governments keep asking for more of our data, and they keep losing it. Source: Danish CPR Administration / Writer: Julie

    Open source
  3. TS

    The Straits Times@straits_timesPost on X 路

    Hackers get personal information on 8.8 million people in Denmark government data leak https://t.co/5KRmpGkccH

    Open source
  4. SE

    SecurityWeek@SecurityWeekPost on X 路

    8.8 Million Impacted by Data Breach at Denmark鈥檚 Central Person Register https://t.co/pG3RbjlAyH

    Open source
  5. BL

    Bloomberg@businessPost on X 路

    Denmark suffered a major data breach that gave unauthorized individuals access to personal data belonging to about 8.8 million people https://t.co/LWClYYBpv8

    Open source
  6. SE

    SecurityWeek@SecurityWeekPost on X 路

    8.8 Million Impacted by Data Breach at Denmark鈥檚 Central Person Register https://t.co/pG3RbjlAyH

    Open source
  7. TN

    TNW@thenextwebPost on X 路

    8.8M records came back from a country of 6M people. Denmark's national register was queried 14 million times in ten days, and officials only noticed when the invoice arrived. https://t.co/UZMuDwwiy1 https://t.co/ae9fmZJnCY

    Open source