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General => Ancestral Family Tree DNA Testing => Topic started by: Wexflyer on Wednesday 06 December 23 05:29 GMT (UK)

Title: 23AndMe Data Breach Spirals - Millions Affected
Post by: Wexflyer on Wednesday 06 December 23 05:29 GMT (UK)
https://www.wired.com/story/23andme-breach-sec-update/ (https://www.wired.com/story/23andme-breach-sec-update/)
Title: Re: 23AndMe Data Breach Spirals - Millions Affected
Post by: Gadget on Wednesday 06 December 23 10:15 GMT (UK)
Also here:

https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=878573.0
Title: Re: 23AndMe Data Breach Spirals - Millions Affected
Post by: Wexflyer on Wednesday 06 December 23 16:16 GMT (UK)
Also here:

https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=878573.0

Apart from linking to a new more detailed news  article, I thought  this story deserves a headline which explicitly mades  the scale of the problem clear - that millions are affected. The previous threads fail to do that
Title: Re: 23AndMe Data Breach Spirals - Millions Affected
Post by: Gadget on Wednesday 06 December 23 16:31 GMT (UK)
The Times today has an article which says 6.9m users had their data stolen in an attack on their DNA testing service which happened in October, far exceeding the 14,000 people it previously said had been affected. This does not affect me but I thought members may be interested.
Title: Re: 23AndMe Data Breach Spirals - Millions Affected
Post by: Wexflyer on Wednesday 06 December 23 16:38 GMT (UK)
The Times today has an article which says 6.9m users had their data stolen in an attack on their DNA testing service which happened in October, far exceeding the 14,000 people it previously said had been affected. This does not affect me but I thought members may be interested.

I know that was posted.  But to be blunt, the headlines on the other threads simply fail to convey the scale of the issue. Many will probably miss the story with those headline - sounds trivial. What is needed is an explicit statement that millions are affected - - in the headline
Title: Re: 23AndMe Data Breach Spirals - Millions Affected
Post by: Gadget on Wednesday 06 December 23 17:07 GMT (UK)
Apart from the thread that I linked to, there was at least one earlier thread when the breach was announced.

https://www.rootschat.com/forum/ancestral-family-tree-dna-testing/
Title: Re: 23AndMe Data Breach Spirals - Millions Affected
Post by: Wexflyer on Wednesday 06 December 23 17:25 GMT (UK)
Apart from the thread that I linked to, there was at least one earlier thread when the breach was announced.

https://www.rootschat.com/forum/ancestral-family-tree-dna-testing/

Back when the numbers were said to be 5,000?
Now the numbers are over 5,000,000!

Don't you think the scale of the problem is somewhat larger? A 1000 times larger?
Sufficient to garner more attention?
Title: Re: 23AndMe Data Breach Spirals - Millions Affected
Post by: Enumerated on Wednesday 06 December 23 17:33 GMT (UK)
Well you brought it to my attention, Wexflyer. I hadn't heard about it before.

I'm just glad I have never been tempted to have a DNA test.
Title: Re: 23AndMe Data Breach Spirals - Millions Affected
Post by: Gadget on Wednesday 06 December 23 18:13 GMT (UK)
The number was much higher that 5,000

Also

This is actually several weeks old and was reported and discussed here at the time. It is the reason why other sites such as Ancestry are now implementing 2FA. The press are behind the curve or have just picked up on later admissions from 23&Me about the number of users affected.
Title: Re: 23AndMe Data Breach Spirals - Millions Affected
Post by: MaecW on Thursday 07 December 23 03:53 GMT (UK)
Shows the danger inherent in providing DNA to anybody without very clear security arrangements.
Is it coincidence that Ancestry were bought by Blackstones who have several Health and Healthcare companies in their portfolio ?  Possibly, but one needs to be careful : the information you give may end up being used against your children and their descendants.
Title: Re: 23AndMe Data Breach Spirals - Millions Affected
Post by: emeraldcity on Friday 08 December 23 00:00 GMT (UK)
https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/6/23991132/warning-23andmes-new-terms-of-service-include-a-class-action-waiver-and-forced-arbitration

Horrible company.