The genetic testing firm 23andMe confirmed on Friday that knowledge from a subset of its customers has been compromised. The corporate stated its techniques weren’t breached and that attackers gathered the information by guessing the login credentials of a bunch of customers after which scraping extra individuals’s info from a function often known as DNA Family. Customers decide into sharing their info via DNA Family for others to see.
Hackers posted an preliminary knowledge pattern on the platform BreachForums earlier this week, claiming that it contained 1 million knowledge factors completely about Ashkenazi Jews. There additionally appear to be a whole bunch of hundreds of customers of Chinese language descent impacted by the leak. On Wednesday, the actor started promoting what it claims are 23andMe profiles for between $1 and $10 per account, relying on the size of the acquisition. The info contains issues like a show identify, intercourse, delivery yr, and a few particulars about genetic ancestry outcomes, like that somebody is, say, of “broadly European” or “broadly Arabian” descent. It could additionally embrace some extra particular geographic ancestry info. The data doesn’t seem to incorporate precise, uncooked genetic knowledge.
The corporate emphasised in an announcement that it doesn’t see proof that its techniques have been breached. It additionally inspired customers to make use of sturdy, distinctive passwords and allow two-factor authentication to maintain attackers from compromising their particular person accounts utilizing login credentials uncovered in different knowledge breaches.
“We have been made conscious that sure 23andMe buyer profile info was compiled via entry to particular person 23andMe.com accounts,” the corporate stated in an announcement. “We imagine that the risk actor could have then, in violation of our phrases of service, accessed 23andme.com accounts with out authorization and obtained info from these accounts.”
The corporate has not been clear on whether or not it has validated the information the risk actor leaked, noting that its investigation is ongoing and that it at present has “preliminary outcomes.” A spokesperson for the corporate informed WIRED that the leaked info is in line with a scenario wherein some consumer accounts have been uncovered after which leveraged to scrape knowledge seen in DNA Family. However when pressed on the main points of whether or not the information has been validated, the spokesperson stated that verifying the information is pending and that the corporate can’t at present verify whether or not the leaked info is actual.
This level is critical each for everybody whose info could have been compromised and since the information posted by the actor claims to incorporate “celebrities.” Entries for technologists Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Sergey Brin are all seen within the pattern knowledge, together with “Profile ID,” “Account ID,” identify, intercourse, delivery yr, present location, and fields often known as “ydna” and “ndna.” It’s unclear if the information for these entries is reliable or was inserted. For instance, Musk and Brin seem to have the identical profile and account IDs within the leak.
