The famous biotechnology company 23andMe Holding Co., known for its personal genome tests. is facing a major data leak. Hackers who infiltrated the company’s servers accessed the sensitive data of thousands of people.Thousands of customers’ data was compromised
The attack on 23andMe, which internationally provides personal genome tests and data such as ethnic background and susceptibility to selected diseases, caused the sensitive data of users of this service to appear on the black market.
Speaking to BleepingComputer, 23andMe confirmed the cyber attack on the site and shared some details about the attack. According to the company’s statement, the attack was carried out by filling in credentials. This attack method is carried out by hackers using the captured data to access another organization, so that the attack does not activate the security mechanisms on the organization’s servers. According to 23andMe’s statement, as a result of the attack, people’s DNA information could not be accessed, but their photos, names and geographical locations were obtained.
Ashkenazi Jews were targeted
According to BleepingComputer, the attack resulted in the theft of 1 million lines of data about Ashkenazi people. It is also reported that the stolen data was sold on the black market in packages of 100, 1,000, 10,000 and 100,000 profiles. Although genetic data was not among the stolen data, it is stated that people’s secret relatives and disease susceptibility data may have been stolen.
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