Denmark’s national ID system breach exposes personal data of 8.8M
Attackers used a company’s credentials to pull records on about 8.8 million people from Denmark’s national ID registry.
Denmark is reviewing security around its Central Person Register after unauthorized parties used a company’s access credentials to query the national citizen registry for about 10 days in September. More than 14 million searches returned records on approximately 8.8 million people, including residents, deceased people, and people who moved abroad; protected names and addresses were not affected. Administrators discovered unusual activity on October 2, the company’s access was cut off, and the National Special Crime Unit is investigating. Officials warn exposed CPR numbers could enable fraud and advise organizations not to rely on a CPR number alone.