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'It's so strange': Danish schools hit by mysterious AI requests
In recent weeks, several schools have received a series of requests for access to public documents that appear to have been generated by AI.
Frederiksberg Gymnasium is one of the educational institutions that has received mysterious requests for access to public documents. (Photo: © Niels Christian Vilmann, Ritzau Scanpix)
By Silas Bay Nielsen ([email protected]) 37 minutes ago
Danish upper secondary schools and vocational colleges are currently being hit by a veritable stream of mysterious requests for access to public documents concerning the schools' affairs, all seemingly sent from the same sender.
The requests are presumed to have been written using artificial intelligence and concern, among other things, which case management systems the schools use and court rulings.
The inquiries come after several educational institutions have been targeted by cyberattacks.
Read also: University of Copenhagen has been subjected to a cyberattack
One of the upper secondary schools that has received such a request is Frederiksberg Gymnasium. It first happened on 18 October.
Maja Bødtcher-Hansen is the principal there, while also serving as chair of the organisation Danske Gymnasier (Danish Upper Secondary Schools). She says that "a great many" upper secondary schools have received the same type of requests.
- We receive a request for access to public documents concerning matters about which systems we use and legal cases that we as a school have been involved in. We can quickly see that there is no human behind it and that it has been created by AI. So we contact a legal adviser to hear what we should do, she says.
Read also: DTU has been subjected to a hacker attack
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Must respond to access requests
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The legislation states that a request for access to public documents must be processed within a few days, and that the public authority must guide the applicant so that the applicant receives the correct information. When the school did that, it became even more clear that the inquiries were not genuine.
- The follow-up inquiries came extremely quickly, and they could also come at odd times of the day. It is so strange, says Maja Bødtcher-Hansen.
Maja Bødtcher-Hansen is principal at Frederiksberg Gymnasium. She is also chair of Danske Gymnasier. (Photo: © Søren Bidstrup, Berlingske/Ritzau Scanpix)
She says that Frederiksberg Gymnasium has not released any information and that the matter has been reported to the police and the Ministry of Education was informed on Tuesday.
Danske Erhvervsskoler- og -Gymnasier (Danish Vocational Colleges and Upper Secondary Schools) has also received several similar inquiries. That is according to Allan Kortnum, who is chair of the Leadership Association within Danske Erhvervsskoler- og -Gymnasier.
- We have experienced it this week, and it is something that has been talked about throughout the week. Because we are wondering what on earth this is, he says.
Read also: Fraudsters can easily clone and misuse your boss's voice or face: 'It's no longer science fiction'
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Increasing number of attacks
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Allan Kortnum says that the schools experience attempted cyberattacks almost daily and that the number is rising dramatically. The schools hold a great deal of personal data such as exam papers, and there is a greater risk of security gaps because so many people need access to the schools' IT systems, he explains.
Do you fear that it could be used to hack into your systems?
- I am not an expert, but I fear that it is most likely about getting in and gaining access to critical personal data, he says.
Allan Kortnum says that the number of attempted cyberattacks is rising sharply. He points out that schools typically hold a large amount of personal information, such as exam certificates. (Photo: © Peter Øvad Halkjær, DR)
Maja Bødtcher-Hansen shares the same concern.
- I can be concerned that it is an attempt to obtain information about how to gain access to information about people at the schools, she says.
However, she also points out that it could simply be a form of blatant exploitation of the fact that public authorities are required to respond to requests for access to public documents.
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Minister: We are closely monitoring the situation
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DR attempted on Friday morning to get in touch with the Ministry of Education regarding the many access requests.
This afternoon, the ministry confirmed in a press release that at least 50 institutions in the education sector had been subjected to "a large number of requests for access to public documents from the same sender."
The ministry also concludes that the sender is an AI bot.
Read also: Aarhus University subjected to hacker attack
The press release states that the ministry has been in contact with the Danish Emergency Management Agency and the Danish Defence Intelligence Service's Situationscenter.
- Right now, we have no reason to believe that any data has been compromised, but we are closely monitoring the situation and are in close contact with the relevant authorities, says Education Minister Magnus Heunicke (Social Democrats) according to the press release.
Maja Bødtcher-Hansen says that the cases have led the Agency for IT and Learning to urge schools to be vigilant and to contact the police if they suspect that an AI bot is behind a request for access to public documents.
DR has asked the Ministry of Education which institutions are affected and whether schools may refrain from responding if they receive requests they suspect come from AI bots. The ministry merely refers to the press release.
Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.