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2023-12-05 15:20:00
DNA testing has gone viral on the Internet. Easily made at home, they allow you to discover your origins and retrace your history in just a few steps. There are several companies of this type: MyHeritage, 23AndMe or My Ancestry, etc.
One of them, 23AndMe, is currently in the spotlight, as revealed by the BBC. Indeed, it turns out that hackers managed to access the personal information of around 6.9 million users of this company. A figure, which corresponds to more than half of its customers.
The crooks first connected to 14,000 individual accounts, using email addresses and passwords revealed during other hacks. The company explained that by accessing these accounts, the hackers were able to gain access to “a significant number of files containing profile information regarding other users’ ancestors.” Each user, directly or indirectly connected to these 14,000 hacked profiles, saw their data stolen by these hackers.
These DNA tests that reveal family secrets
The hackers thus had access to information such as the family tree of these people, their name, their photos, their year of birth or even their geographical position. DNA records are not affected by this data theft.
However, this leak might endanger some people. As the BBC reports, “a batch of data was presented on a hacking forum as a list of people with Jewish ancestry, sparking fears of targeted attacks.”
Ocam in turn warns of a rise in anti-Semitism in Belgium: “We are worried”
On the company’s side, 23andMe said it is busy notifying all affected customers. The company will force them to change their password and improve their account security.
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