Denmark's national population registry suffered a major data breach that exposed the personal information of roughly 8.8 million people, the country's research, education, and digitalization ministry announced on Monday.
Unauthorized individuals gained access to names, addresses, and CPR numbers — Denmark's social security identifiers — stored in Det Centrale Personregister, the country's central population registry, according to the ministry. The exposed records include data on people who have died or emigrated, as well as living residents. People who had registered for name and address protection were not affected.
The attackers did not break directly into the registry. Instead, they exploited a Danish company's lawful access to the CPR system to extract the data, the ministry said. Authorities have since revoked that company's access and are working with specialists and law enforcement to reconstruct the full sequence of events. The ministry said it has filed a report with Denmark's data protection authority and that police are investigating.
Research, Education, and Digitalization Minister Christina Egelund called the incident "an extremely serious incident" in a statement and said she had briefed the Folketing's business and digitalization committee. "Together with all the relevant authorities, we are in the process of mapping out the full extent of the incident," Egelund said in a statement. "I have additionally requested that a thorough security review of the CPR system be carried out."
As of Monday, investigators had not identified any suspects, Euronews reported. While Denmark's own population stands at roughly six million, the national registry contains records for some 11 million individuals — among them deceased people and former residents, Euronews reported.
The ministry urged residents to remain alert to phishing attempts, noting that they should never passwords or other sensitive information in response to phone calls or emails — even if the caller appears to know their name, address, or CPR number. Residents can seek guidance at sikkerdigital.dk or reach the Cyberhotline for digital security at +45 33 37 00 37, which the ministry said would operate with extended hours in the coming days.
The breach comes as data compromises are rising globally. The Identity Theft Resource Center tracked 1,803 data compromises in the first half of 2026 , putting the year on pace to exceed the record 3,321 incidents recorded across all of 2025. One in four malicious breaches between March 2025 and February 2026 were AI-enabled, a 56% increase over the prior year, according to an IBM $IBM study cited in that data.
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