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23andMe tells victims it's their fault that their data was breached | TechCrunch

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23andMe tells victims it's their fault that their data was breached | TechCrunch

Hope this isn't a repeated submission. Funny how they're trying to deflect blame after they tried to change the EULA post breach.

276 comments
  • Reusing credentials is their fault. Sure, 23&me should've done better, but someone was likely to get fucked, and if you're using the same password everywhere it is objectively your fault. Get a password manager, don't make the key the same compromised password, and stop being stupid.

    • It's at least 99.8% the company's fault.

      Even if we blame those 14k password reusers, we're blaming 1 in every 500 victims. Being able to access genetic information and names of 6.9 million people - half your entire customers! - by hacking 0.02% of that is the fault of the company. They structured that access and failed to act on the obvious threat it represents.

      But why blame password reusers? Not every grandparent interested in their family tree is capable of even understanding data security, let alone juggling multiple passwords or a PW manager.

      Credential stuffing is an inevitable part of security landscape - especially for one time use accounts like genetics sites. A multimillion dollar IT department is just clearly responsible for preventing egregious data security failures.

      • They didn't get genetic raw data of anyone beyond the 14K, they got family relationship information. Which is an option you can turn on or off, if you want. It's very clear that you're exposing yourself to other people if you choose to see who you're related to. It doesn't expose raw data and it doesn't instantly expose names, just how they're related to you. (And most of the "relations" are 3rd to 5th cousins, aka strangers.)

        Hackers used the genetic ancestry data of the 14K hacked users and their "relatives" connections to deduce large families of Ashkenazi Jews.

    • I would say it's partially their fault. IMHO 23&me is mainly to blame. They should've enforced (proper) 2FA. Sure, people should've known better, but they didn't; they oftenly don't. But 23&me did know better.

      Edit: spelling

  • Well its also their fault for falling for 23andMe because its basically a scam. The data is originally self-selected data sets then correlating a few markers tested once, to match you to their arbitrary groups, isn't exactly how genetics work is done.

    Its actually cheap as, maybe cheaper to get 50x full genome sequencing from a company that actually doesn't sell your data; where 23andMe business model was running a few marker tests to appease their audience they kept in the dark of how modern genetics works; then keep the same for full genome sequencing later because that shit only gets more valuable over time.

    Its what makes genetics weird. A sample taken 10 years ago, will reveal so much more about you 5 years from now, like massively more.

  • This is the best summary I could come up with:


    “Rather than acknowledge its role in this data security disaster, 23andMe has apparently decided to leave its customers out to dry while downplaying the seriousness of these events,” Hassan Zavareei, one of the lawyers representing the victims who received the letter from 23andMe, told TechCrunch in an email.

    In December, 23andMe admitted that hackers had stolen the genetic and ancestry data of 6.9 million users, nearly half of all its customers.

    The hackers broke into this first set of victims by brute-forcing accounts with passwords that were known to be associated with the targeted customers, a technique known as credential stuffing.

    “The breach impacted millions of consumers whose data was exposed through the DNA Relatives feature on 23andMe’s platform, not because they used recycled passwords.

    23andMe’s attempt to shirk responsibility by blaming its customers does nothing for these millions of consumers whose data was compromised through no fault of their own whatsoever,” said Zavareei.

    Lawyers with experience representing data breach victims told TechCrunch that the changes were “cynical,” “self-serving,” and “a desperate attempt” to protect itself and deter customers from going after the company.


    The original article contains 721 words, the summary contains 184 words. Saved 74%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

  • From the article:

    The data breach started with hackers accessing only around 14,000 user accounts. The hackers broke into this first set of victims by brute-forcing accounts with passwords that were known to be associated with the targeted customers, a technique known as credential stuffing.

    From these 14,000 initial victims, however, the hackers were able to then access the personal data of the other 6.9 million million victims because they had opted-in to 23andMe’s DNA Relatives feature. This optional feature allows customers to automatically share some of their data with people who are considered their relatives on the platform.

  • I'm just of the general opinion that any personal data you entrust to any corporation is going to be at risk - regardless of it's assurances. There's also a risk of that corporation being legitimately acquired by another thus nullifying previous TOS, etc. Or worse case, they sell all your info anyway. Connected technology is moving quickly. What might seem safe to share today could become the basis of an insurance claim denial when they discover a genetic predisposition they believe you were obligated to disclose.

  • Wow, am I glad nobody in my family has used this whack service!

    Who's up for an old skool loic session against this bunch of clowns lol 🤣 🤣 🤣

276 comments