Cybersecurity
University of Copenhagen breach exposed data of 525,000
The University of Copenhagen said hackers reached a test environment holding personal data, later added that PIN codes for 20,000 more people were exposed, and reported the incident to Danish regulators.
- The University of Copenhagen confirmed that hackers accessed a test environment containing personal data belonging to 525,000 people.
- It said it detected the breach last Tuesday and disclosed it on Friday.
- In an update yesterday, the university said PIN codes for another 20,000 staff and students had been exposed.
- The university said the exposed information could include names, CPR numbers, phone numbers and email addresses, and warned of phishing and social engineering risk.
- It said it had contained the attack, blocked the attacker’s access and saw no indication that systems supporting daily operations were affected.
The University of Copenhagen said hackers accessed a test environment that held personal data on 525,000 people. It detected the incident last Tuesday and made it public on Friday.
In a later update, the university said PIN codes for another 20,000 staff and students had also been exposed. It said the information at risk could include names, CPR numbers, phone numbers and email addresses.
The university said it had contained the intrusion and cut off the attacker’s access. It said there was no sign that systems used for daily operations were reached or that university activity was disrupted.
The university reported the incident to the Danish Data Protection Agency. It said the case fell under GDPR and that it was taking the relevant steps with regulators.
Named in this story
Organisations
- University of Copenhagen
- confirmed the breach and disclosed what data may have been exposed
Governments and agencies
- Danish Data Protection Agency
- received the incident report
- Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
- the regulatory framework the university said applied to the incident
Products and systems
- The Blue Report 2026
- the report promoted in the closing lines
Places
- Denmark
- the country where the university is based
How the source tells it
The piece was mostly a factual breach notice, with a brief promotional footer that shifted into vendor marketing.
- reassurance the university stressed containment and said it had not seen disruption to daily operations
- vendor boosterism the closing copy switched to a self-promotional report claim based on simulation results