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Oct 16, 2024

23andMe agrees to $30m settlement over data breach targeting Jewish and Chinese users

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, cybercrime/malcode, genetics

Genetic testing company settles with plaintiffs over breach that was revealed when hacker published link to database labeled ‘ashkenazi DNA Data of Celebrities’

The breach, which occurred last October, affected more than 6.9 million customers and included users’ personal details such as their location, name and birthdate, as well as some information about their family trees. That data was shared on BreachForums, an online forum used by cybercriminals.

According to court documents, the data breach was revealed October 6 after a hacker going by the pseudonym Golem, a reference to the Jewish mythical defender made of clay, published a link to a database labeled ashkenazi DNA Data of Celebrities. According to the lawsuit, the hacker referred to the list as the most valuable data you’ll ever see, though most of the names were not famous.

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