Security breach in Absalon
The supplier of Absalon recently experienced a security breach. This means that information about current and former students and employees may have been leaked or stolen.
Absalon is a course platform for teaching staff and students, which contains, for example, information about course registrations, messages between students and lecturers, names and email addresses.
Absalon is an essential part of the University of Copenhagen’s operations, which means that the use of the platform will continue.
The University of Copenhagen’s next steps
The University of Copenhagen is taking the situation very seriously and is in the process of:
- clarifying to what extent current and former students and staff at the University have been affected by the security breach.
- taking the proper security precautions to protect the University of Copenhagen and anyone else affected.
The University of Copenhagen notified the Danish Data Protection Agency on 5 May 2026.
Further information
Contact
If you have any questions, you are welcome to contact the University of Copenhagen:
- Press office
- Individuals affected by the security breach who have concerns or questions regarding their own situation may contact the University of Copenhagen’s Data Protection Officer (DPO) at dpo@adm.ku.dk
About the security breach
Instructure, the supplier of Absalon (also known as Canvas), has confirmed that they have experienced a security breach. The platform is used by thousands of educational institutions, and it is feared that 275 million users are affected.
The cyberattack has been claimed by a hacking group, and the supplier has confirmed that the University of Copenhagen is among the organisations affected by the data security breach.