Leaked ‘123456’ Password Linked to Access to 8.8 Million Danish Population Records
Summary
An attacker reportedly used a leaked former employee password to abuse Pays ApS’s authorized CPR register access, exposing information on about 8.8 million people. Unusually high search activity was noticed after a large bill drew attention to it.
Key points
- Unauthorized users reportedly accessed Denmark’s CPR population register by abusing Pays ApS’s authorized access.
- The initial access reportedly involved the leaked password “123456,” associated with a former Pays employee.
- Information on about 8.8 million people was accessed, including names, addresses, CPR numbers, and other details; the group included about 5.5 million living and 3.3 million deceased people.
- The attackers reportedly had access for 21 days before access was shut down on October 2; suspicious activity appears to have stopped on September 20.
- An unusually large bill for around 14 million searches drew attention to the activity.
- The article recommends strong unique passwords, mandatory multifactor authentication, and monitoring for unusual activity.
Article Details
- Victim Organization
- CPR administration
- Incident Type
- Unauthorized access to the CPR system and data breach
- Data Types Exposed
- Names
- Addresses
- CPR numbers
- Other personal information
- Affected Records
- Approximately 8.8 million people: about 5.5 million living and 3.3 million deceased people
- Operational Impact
- Unauthorized access through Pays ApS’s authorized access enabled millions of searches. The access was shut down on October 2; suspicious activity appears to have stopped on September 20. An unusually large bill for around 14 million searches drew attention to the breach.
- Claim Status
- confirmed