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DNA testing and genealogy companies are step up user story security by mandate the exercise oftwo - element authentication , following the theft of millions of user track record from DNA genetic testing giant 23andMe .
Ancestry , MyHeritage and 23andMe have begun notifying customers that their accounts will use two - factor ( 2FA ) by default , a security feature where users are asked to go into an additional verification code send to a machine they own to corroborate that the individual sign in is the straight account bearer .
Ancestry emailed customers saying the society will “ require two - step verification ” for client signalise in by send a code to their phone or e-mail reference .
“ Ancestry is ask all AncestryDNA customers who want to view their DNA match to use multi - factor authentication to log into their account . This requirement will go into effect by the end of the year , ” said Ancestry representative Gina Spatafore in an e-mail to TechCrunch .
MyHeritage saidin a web log post last weekthat two - ingredient authentication will “ before long become a mandatory requirement for our deoxyribonucleic acid customers , ” citing the late data theft at 23andMe . For its part,23andMe said this weekthat it was also “ requiring all customers use a second step of verification ” to sign into their story .
Ancestry , MyHeritage and 23andMe account for more than 100 million users .
The move to require 2FA by default comes after 23andMe enjoin in October it was investigating after a cyber-terrorist claimed the thievery of millions of 23andMe account record , including one million users of Judaic Ashkenazi descent and 100,000 Chinese users .
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23andMe saidin a blog Charles William Post at the timethat it believe hacker accessed 23andMe drug user accounts by using stolen substance abuser countersign — where hacker try lists of usernames and corresponding parole that were already made public from other datum severance . The hackers compiled visibility and familial data from 23andMe users who had opt into itsDNA Relativesfeature , which get users who flip-flop on the feature mechanically share their data with others , according to 23andMe .
TechCrunch found thatsome of the stolen data was advertised as betimes as August , and that some of the stolen data point matches known and public 23andMe user and genetical data .
Genetics and genealogy companies have previously been targets of cyberattacks and data thieving , given the wealthiness of sore personal and transmissible data they admit . In 2020 , deoxyribonucleic acid analysis siteGEDmatch said it experienced two data breachesthat reveal substance abuser ’ data point . In 2019 , DNA examination firmVeritas Genetics was hit by a data point breachthat compromised customer information .
Updated with comment from Ancestry .
cyberpunk leaks millions more 23andMe user book on cybercrime forum
