CPR data breach drives credit alerts to nearly one million

The number of Danes with a credit alert registered in Denmark’s Civil Registration System, known as the CPR, has almost quadrupled in a week, DR reported, citing figures from the Ministry of Research, Education and Digitalisation. The number rose from just under 250,000 on October 1 to about 970,000 on October 7.

A credit alert makes it harder for someone to take out a loan or obtain credit in another person’s name, and can help guard against identity fraud. The Danish Agency for Civil Protection and Emergency Management has advised people with a specific suspicion of fraud to register an alert following the leak of 8.8 million CPR numbers.

Authorities disclosed on Monday that an unauthorised party had misused a small Danish company’s legitimate access to the CPR register. The access occurred over a 10-day period in September. The compromised information primarily concerned names and addresses.

Authorities discovered the breach after the company received a large bill for CPR searches. The agency’s Cyber Hotline for digital security has extended its opening hours on weekdays for the coming days, from 8am to midnight. It normally operates from 8am to 8pm. The hotline number is 33 37 00 37.