Leak Affects Identities of 8.8 Million Danes.. and the Reason is a Private Company

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Legal powers granted to a private company in Denmark have turned into a gateway for unauthorized access to personal data of millions of people, in a security incident that affected the central population register, raising concerns about the potential misuse of information for fraud and identity theft.

The Danish Ministry of Research, Education, and Digitalization announced today, Monday, that unauthorized parties managed to access data of approximately 8.8 million people, including names, addresses, and identification numbers, after misusing powers that a private company had to access the system.

The authorities clarified that the powers granted to the company, known by the abbreviation "CPR", were exploited to illegally access data from the central population register, according to "France Presse".

Meanwhile, the register management suspended the company's access to the system following the discovery of the incident.

While the police and relevant authorities, in collaboration with digital security experts, began investigating how the powers were exploited and determining the scope of the data that was accessed.

The authorities have not disclosed the identities of those responsible for the incident or the method that enabled them to use the company's powers, while the Danish Data Protection Authority has been informed of the incident.

Indicators of the incident began to emerge on the evening of Friday, October 2, after the registry management detected unusual activity dating back to September. During the weekend, a review revealed that unauthorized access extended to the data of millions of people.

The number of affected individuals raised questions, as the current population of Denmark is just over 6 million.

However, Danish authorities justified this by stating that the central registry does not only contain data of current residents but also retains information about deceased individuals or those who have left the country for other nations.

The system includes approximately 11 million registered individuals, which makes the number of records accessed greater than the current population.

The initial review showed that the unauthorized access did not include names and addresses of individuals registered under special arrangements to protect this information, while authorities are still auditing the remaining details of the data affected by the incident.

For her part, Minister of Research, Education, and Digitalization Kristina Egelund described the incident as "extremely serious," confirming that the Committee on Business and Digitalization in Parliament has been informed and measures are being taken to prevent its recurrence.

She also requested a comprehensive security review of the system to identify the shortcomings that allowed access to the data, and urged residents to exercise caution in the upcoming period.

Authorities warned against sharing passwords or sensitive information in response to phone calls or emails, even if the caller knows the person's name, address, and ID number, emphasizing that possessing this information does not prove the caller's identity or the legitimacy of their request.

These warnings came amid concerns about the exploitation of data in fraud or identity theft operations, while investigations continue to identify those responsible for the incident and assess the necessary measures to enhance the protection of the central population registry.