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Denmark has suffered a major data breach after hackers broke into the country’s national population registry and accessed the personal information of millions of people.
The country’s digital affairs minister announced the data breach on Monday, calling it “an extremely serious incident” that affected 8.8 million people.
“Unauthorised individuals obtained illegal access” to the names, addresses and CPR, including those who have died or emigrated, the ministry said in a press release, referring to Denmark’s social security numbers.
“This is an extremely serious incident,” Christina Egelund, digital affairs minister, was quoted as saying in the press release.
“Together with all the relevant authorities, we are in the process of mapping out the full extent of the incident,” she added.
Denmark has a population of around six million, but the national registry has information on 11 million, including data on those deceased and people who have emigrated from the country.
An investigation has now been launched into the incident. Authorities said they have no information on who carried out the breach.
They broke into the national registry by hacking into a Danish company that legally had access to it, the government said, adding that the access has not been revoked.