Hacker Claims Denmark's National System Password '123456' Exposed Data of 8.8 Million People!

This security breach was detected 12 days after it occurred, once an unusual volume of activity was noticed, and the data of 8.8 million Danes reached the hackers.

This security breach was detected 12 days after the occurrence and after observing the volume of unusual activity and the information of 8.8 million Danes reached the hackers.

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The person responsible for the recent hacking of Denmark's national registry system has claimed that it was only because of a very weak password of an IT company that he was able to break into the system. According to The Register media report, Pays ApS, a data services and information technology company that allows its customers to query the Danish Central Register of Persons (CPR), was the main source of this security breach, and the hacker claimed that one of the user accounts he managed to break into was protected by the password "123456".

The government of Copenhagen has confirmed this cyber attack and a government official has explained that this security breach was discovered 12 days after it happened and when an unusual amount of activity was observed by this company. According to the Danish government, 8.8 million records were extracted illegally in this incident; However, the said hacker claims that he has no intention to sell or disclose this information.

Although the Danish government did not disclose the name of the company the hacker exploited, Sophie Larsen, CEO of Pays ApS, confirmed that the hacker used the company's access to the database to steal information.

This incident clearly shows that the security of a system is only as strong as its weakest link; Because the Danish national database was compromised simply through a weak password chosen by a third party user. Given that the CPR system contains the information of virtually all Danish citizens, it was expected that users, if not required to use the two-factor authentication system, would at least be required to choose more complex passwords to access it.

Of course, this is not the first time that such incidents reveal the weaknesses of government databases. Earlier, in 2024, when a ransomware attack affected more than 230 government agencies, Indonesia realized that it had no backup copy of its data. Also, South Korea lost 858 terabytes of data last year after a catastrophic fire in one of its government data centers.

The Danish government is expected to completely overhaul its password policies in the near future; Especially now that AI has made it easier and more efficient for hackers to target systems. According to reports, recent incidents such as cyber attacks on South Korean banks as well as attacks against the government of Taiwan have been carried out with the help of artificial intelligence agents. Additionally, hackers have been able to break into OpenAI's systems using Claude's AI tools, which shows how powerful AI can become as a hacking tool. However, with a password like "123456", would-be hackers won't even need to use any artificial intelligence tools to break into weakly protected systems.

My professional career in the world of technology goes back almost 10 years; The path that started with hardware, continued with software, and now continues as a technology reporter in Sefir Arjan. I am Javad and more than three decades have passed and in addition to the world of technology, I love movies and cinema, classic rock music and Real Madrid.