23andMe , the company that lets you knowwhether you ’re related to to your wifeor not , appear to be in bother . Over the weekend , multiple outletsreportedthat the biotech company had suffer a data rupture after users ’ entropy unceremoniously popped up for cut-rate sale on the drab web . Now , the ship’s company is predictably getting sued by make water - off client who feel their information was improperly safeguard .
The information post online appears to regard over a million users , and includes a variety of datum points , including users ’ name calling , genders , birthdays , geographical locations , visibility pictures , and genetic pedigree results . The hawker of the data point claim that the accounts in question are unite specifically to masses of Ashkenazi Judaic filiation , though some Chinese usersare said to have been exhibit as well . include in the catch are account apparently connected to a act of fame and high - visibility mortal , including tech luminariesElon Musk , Sergei Brin , and Mark Zuckerberg .
23andMe , which has confirmed that the customer datum is real , has deny that it was attained via a expert hacking sequence , telling Gizmodo in a statement that customer accounts seem to have been infiltrated using antecedently compromised login credentials . The statement reads , in part :
Photo: Lets Design Studio (Shutterstock)
… we trust threat actors were able to access certain accounts in instances where users recycle login credentials – that is , usernames and passwords that were used on 23andMe.com were the same as those used on other internet site that have been antecedently hacked .
While it would take a thoroughgoing cybersecurity investigation to get to the bottom of those claim , some client are n’t wait around for that to bechance . A class actionlawsuitfiled in California accuses 23andMe of shoddy cybersecurity practices and says that the business firm ’s unequal digital “ safeguards ” have now put client at an idealistic peril of imposter and identity theft . The lawsuit search harm on behalf of impacted users .
DNA: The future of data breaches
Cybersecurity professionalshave long warnedthat the grow biomedical manufacture is a data catastrophe waiting to happen . Cybercriminals and nation - DoS hackers have a slap-up interest in organizations that store worthful information , and genomics firms — which commodify and salt away large quantity of human genetic data — are apparently really appealing targets .
23andMe is n’t the first company in its field to get chop . Over the last few years , a growing list of genomics companies and labshave suffered similar breaches . Just this summer , the Federal Trade Commissionsettled witha California ship’s company , 1Health.io , for its unlawful storage and suspicious pattern .
Cybercrime apart , other obvious concerns exist with the genomics diligence — notably , its penchant for sharing data with international party , like cops and pharmaceutical companies . While 23andMe says it fights hard against requests from law enforcement agencies , other companiesaren’t quite so hard . In 2018 , 23andMe also made headlineswhen it controversially announcedit would be deal anonymized genetic information to GlaxoSmithKline , one of the big pharma companies in the Earth .
In brusque : finding out how distantly you ’re related to Genghis Khan might be fun , but I still would n’t recommend sharing your DNA with anyone unless you absolutely have to .
23andMeComputer securityCybersecurityElon MuskMark Zuckerberg
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