Denmark – Data of 8.8 million people hacked

COPENHAGEN, 5 October /ATSH-ANSA/ – Hackers have penetrated Denmark’s national register and gained access to the personal data of around 8.8 million people, the Danish Ministry for Digital Affairs announced.

The administration of the Danish national register CPR confirmed that unauthorised persons illegally secured access, in particular to the names, addresses and CPR numbers — the personal social identification numbers — of around 8.8 million registered persons.

Among the affected persons are also individuals who have died or have left Denmark.

“This is an extremely serious incident,” declared the Danish Minister for Digital Affairs, Christina Egelund.

She added that the authorities are working to determine the full scale of the incident and to understand what data has been compromised.

Denmark has around 6.0 million inhabitants, but the national register contains data on around 11 million people, as it also includes information on deceased persons and people who have left the country.

Investigations into the incident are ongoing and the Danish authorities are trying to determine who is behind the attack, how the access was secured and which data has been used or copied.