A serious data breach took place in Denmark on Monday, 5 October, with the personal data of 8.8 million people exposed across the country.

The data breach occurred when hackers accessed Denmark’s national population registry and gained access to personal information. Christina Egelund, Denmark’s Minister for Digital Government, called the breach “an extremely serious incident”.

Speaking in a press release, Egelund explained that “unauthorised individuals obtained illegal access” to the names, addresses and CPR numbers of individuals, including people who have died or emigrated.

“Together with all the relevant authorities, we are in the process of mapping out the full extent of the incident,” Egelund added.

An investigation has now been launched into the incident.