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MyHeritage, a DNA Testing and Ancestry Service, Announces Data Breach of Over 92 Million Account Details (vice.com)

Posted by msmash on from the security-woes dept.

Joseph Cox, reporting for Motherboard: Unfortunately for customers of MyHeritage, a genealogy and DNA testing service, a researcher uncovered 92 million account details related to the company sitting on a server, according to an announcement from MyHeritage. The data relates to users who signed up to MyHeritage up to and including October 26, 2017 -- the date of the breach -- the announcement adds. Users of the Israeli-based company can create family trees and search through historical records to try and uncover their ancestry. In January 2017, Israeli media reported the company has some 35 million family trees on its website. In all, the breach impacted 92,283,889 users, according to MyHeritage's disclosure.

117 comments

  1. Wow so now your great great grand daddy's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    details have been hacked too. Is there no end to it?

    1. Re:Wow so now your great great grand daddy's by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      The ancestry data is pretty much public. So that's no real loss. These services all share that kind of stuff quite widely. It's kind of why they are even remotely useful at all.

      The DNA data is a bit more interesting/private though.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
  2. What a HUGE surprise! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    said no one in IT.

  3. Security, what security? Is that a thing we do? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't care how qualified the person is... if they tell you that ANYTHING you store online is, in any way, SECURE, they're lying to your face. Plain and simple.

  4. Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 2

    With the security breach it kind of gives a whole new meaning to:

    Who's your daddy? :-/

    On a related note:

    When are we going to start fining companies that suffer a security breach?
    Until there is a financial penalty companies have very little motivation to take security seriously.

    1. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 5, Interesting

      >Who's your daddy?

      In my family's case, it was "Who's your uncle?" and "Who's your cousin?".

      My wife's bible bashing, holier than thou grandfather was dipping his wick in many places it seems. The denial on the part of the bible bashing, holier than thou, next generation was remarkable.

      23andme uncovered these things.
       

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    2. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      With the security breach it kind of gives a whole new meaning to:

      Who's your daddy? :-/

      On a related note:

      When are we going to start fining companies that suffer a security breach?
      Until there is a financial penalty companies have very little motivation to take security seriously.

      You punish a company that doesn't take security seriously by taking your business elsewhere.

      We don't legally punish the person whose house get's broken into by a burglar for not securing their house properly. We don't legally punish Target for being the victim of shoplifting. You don't arrest rape victims for being raped (even if they wore revealing clothing and didn't learn to defend themselves with kung-fu).

      Charging the victim isn't an option.

      As a consumer, sure, you have the right to take your business elsewhere.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    3. Re: Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uncle grandpa?

    4. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Israeli-based". N'uff said.

      Brace yourselves for the incoming "datascience" crowd who care nothing about scientific methods, nor you. What they care about is how large their dataset is.

      The data has indeed always "been there", what hasn't is the access for any dickwad with a few dollars to spend. And spare me the crap about meta and anonymized data.

    5. Re: Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Don't tell me what to do! I'm My Own Grandpa!

    6. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by Kozar_The_Malignant · · Score: 4, Insightful

      We don't legally punish the person whose house get's broken into by a burglar for not securing their house properly.

      > That's because I'm not generally storing my stuff in my neighbor's house. However if I loan my lawnmower to my neighbor, and it gets stolen because he left his garage door open overnight, he is generally responsible civilly for my loss.

      --
      Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
    7. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We do punish people for negligence, i.e. not exercising proper care. A car owner who leaves the car unlocked can be liable for damages if for example a kid takes the car on a joyride or a drunk person drives off with it and causes an accident.

    8. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's "bible-thumping" you insufferable, self-righteous twit. Bible-bashing is what you atheismbros like to do Christians.

    9. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the bible states that science is sin and 23andme is a tool of satan to deceive the righteous
      also your mom came from doggerland and you are .1% ashkenazi

    10. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

      Fucked up analogy.

      You're suggesting that DNA shit is something you can file for, and have the company return it back to you, in its entirety so you can give it to another business.

      Also, strangers don't have their goddam personal property or data in your unlocked house.

      Litigation is the ONLY solution to this bullshit.

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    11. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by Errol+backfiring · · Score: 1

      I guess we should stop saying "and Bob's your uncle", when we can look it up and see that he isn't.

      --
      Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
    12. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      Fucked up analogy.

      You're suggesting that DNA shit is something you can file for, and have the company return it back to you, in its entirety so you can give it to another business.

      Also, strangers don't have their goddam personal property or data in your unlocked house.

      Litigation is the ONLY solution to this bullshit.

      It's not your data. It's their data because you gave it to them. Now, I'm all for changing privacy laws to be more like European privacy laws- but you can't say you had YOUR data stolen when as it sits in the law it isn't your data- it's the web company's data.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    13. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I guess we should stop saying "and Bob's your uncle", when we can look it up and see that he isn't.

      But ... he is my uncle.

    14. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh, really?

      Your post is so full of arrogance and vitriol, and yet so completely and flatly wrong.

      I was originally inclined to post something like "you are loved, and help is available," but I don't think such a post is really in line with slashdot conventions, so instead I will post about a deep flaw in all versions of Christianity:

      The justification for faith is as follows: Since God is all-knowing, anything God says can be trusted as true, even if it is hard to understand. Since humans are fallible, none of their science or logic or beliefs can be trusted (whenever they contradict something God says). Therefore, it makes sense to believe in God's teachings, even if they seem to contradict the findings of science, or reason.

      However...

      Everything we know about "God's teachings" comes from the Bible, every single word of which was put to paper by fallible humans. The teaching of divine inspiration of the Bible, that was also written about by humans. The notion that Jesus was both human and God...how do we know this? Because a bunch of fallible humans said so. The stories about miraculous events in which God spoke directly to people? Those stories are all stories told by humans. Fallible humans.

      Christians go through amazing mental gymnastics to escape this problem. But there is no escape. All religious teachings come from humans. Furthermore, they are translated by humans, and interpreted by humans. It's humans all the way down.

      So, by putting your faith in the Bible, you are putting your faith in all those fallible humans who produced it. Faith in humans is NOT faith in God.

      QED.

    15. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by CaptainDork · · Score: 2

      ... but you can't say you had YOUR data stolen ...

      You should sign up on a site called, "Slashdot ... News For Nerds; Stuff That Matters"

      They have stories that can help you understand.

      Data Breach Victims Can Sue Yahoo in the United States, Federal Judge Rules

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    16. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yawn.

    17. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      Yawn.

      The truth makes you sleepy?
      That's a medical problem that needs a name.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    18. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      >You're suggesting that DNA shit is something you can file for, and have the company return it back to you, in its entirety so you can give it to another business.

      That's exactly how it works. You can download it and give it to another business, like Promethease or Genetic Genie or Nutrahacker.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    19. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by apoc.famine · · Score: 1

      I'm going to go to space and change mine so it's no longer useful to them. Then I'll be able to count on one hand the seven reasons I'm never doing business with them again.

      --
      Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
    20. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Welcome to Utah!

    21. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some family trees fork, others braid like a rope.

    22. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We don't legally punish the person whose house get's broken into by a burglar for not securing their house properly.

      >
      That's because I'm not generally storing my stuff in my neighbor's house. However if I loan my lawnmower to my neighbor, and it gets stolen because he left his garage door open overnight, he is generally responsible civilly for my loss.

      Sorry to be a wet blanket here, but since when do you own anything on someone else's computer?

    23. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about we try this:
      We'll tie you up, throw you in a river, and if you sink, you're innocent of blasphemy!

    24. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by slew · · Score: 1

      I'm going to go to space and change mine so it's no longer useful to them. Then I'll be able to count on one hand the seven reasons I'm never doing business with them again.

      You don't have to go that far, Chernobyl and Fukushima are both accessible w/o a rocket...

    25. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >"So, by putting your faith in the Bible, you are putting your faith in all those fallible humans who produced it. Faith in humans is NOT faith in God."

      I am not whoever you were responding to, I am posting as AC because...that's all I have ever done with /. , as such it's quite likely that you will not be reading this. Also, given the history of the Internet trying to engage in a debate or coming to conversational closure about topics like this has proven to be a rare thing.

      All of that to say, I wanted to share why as a Christian (the term is broader than what it used to be, so maybe I'm not the kind you have met, maybe I am I can't know) and as a person who is generally considered to be a rational-thinking person (I understand if you think the two are mutually exclusive, yet it seems I am regarded as both by both Christians and non-Christians/non-religeous) understand faith distinctly from how you have described it.

      Perhaps wrong to start with is your last statement about putting your faith in the Bible, which it is very important to understand is not what Christian faith is trusting in. Yes, it is a critical item to our understanding of God but faith that has its target at anywhere but God (which would include the Bible as a book) is mis-placed. Christians understand the Bible as we have it to be the _imperfectly_ translated words of God that were perfectly delivered. That being said it is , you will love this statement i am sure, objectively demonstrable that the written Bible has been preserved very very well.

      Contrary to some of your other notions, human teachers/prophets etc are all to be highly scrutinized, the expectation is that there are persons that are not to be followed nor listened to - the Christian is expected to be a SKEPTIC.

      Finally, although this to you will likely be the least important, the Bible is to be read with prayer and listening with spiritual guidance that enlightens a person beyond just the words on paper. That will be frustrating to hear for anyone looking for something that would look like a scientific method of evaluating truth - it isn't that but it is true anyways.

      Take it or leave it, this is written on the off-chance that you were willing to hear a different perspective. I wish you the best of whatever it is that you think that to be.

    26. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it's quite likely that you will not be reading this

      It's me, believe it or not. I suspect that most anons return to their posts to see who replied...like dogs returning to their vomit, in most cases (but not in your case, you are both cogent and polite).

      You sound like a modernist. One of those "lets at least partially face reality" believers that sprang up during the fundamentalist/modernist controversy of 1910.

      I view modernity as a heroic effort at preserving the good parts of an old religion while updating it in the light of modern learning. And, also, as a sliding scale, ranging from modern Lutherans at one end all the way to Unitarian/Universalists on the other.

      My own experience has primarily been with Fundamentalists, including my own parents, who taught me that God is going to torture most of the world in fire forever, and will do the same to me if I ever stopped believing. They taught me this out of love, to protect me from a fate that they believed they would also share if they ever stopped believing, as they were taught.

      It is a hurtful, abusive teaching that traumatizes children, and should be rejected where it is seen.

      Fun fact: Jesus never once uttered the word "hell," despite him using it quite a lot in the English translations of the Bible. The gospels are written in Greek, which had two words for hell (Hades, Tartarus), and Jesus never once said either one. He talked a lot about Gehenna, which was the name of the valley next to Jerusalem, which does not translate to "hell" in any language. The Biblical translators decided that Jesus was obviously using that this-world valley as a metaphor for a next-world torture chamber, and so they helped us understand what Jesus meant by changing what he actually said.

      And, they are fallible humans. Just like the four authors of the four gospels, writting down what they remembered decades after Jesus was crucified.

      If everything you know about God comes from the Bible, and you believe what it says about God, then you are clearly taking someone else's word for it. Faith in humans. If everything you know about God comes from your own direct revelatory experience....then you are putting faith in your own brain, just as fallible.

      I have no problem with people who want to express surrender to some abstract sense of that which is of ultimate significance. But I do have a problem with people who claim to have special knowledge about God, and what God wants me to do. As should all critical-thinkers, since believing charlatans leads to exploitation.

    27. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      You should sign up on a site called, "Slashdot ... News For Nerds; Stuff That Matters"

      They have stories that can help you understand.

      Nah... I stay away from there, that place is full of idiots. :)

      Data Breach Victims Can Sue Yahoo in the United States, Federal Judge Rules

      Sure... you're welcome to try suing in a civil court if you like. 9 times out of 10 you'll probably fail. Yahoo might actually be one of those rare exceptions because it wasn't just negligence it was gross negligence. They weren't just insecure- they KNEW they were insecure and actively did nothing.

      If you think you own the data you give to companies like Facebook, and MyHeritage, etc, you're bound to be disappointed in the long run. You might have more luck in Europe but in the US- they own the data. They certainly don't think of it as YOUR data and neither would the courts.

      The exception might be if MyHeritage made some guarantee about keeping data safe or keeping your data private. Again though, that would be a civil court process, there wouldn't be any fines against them because they are legally speaking the victims here, not you.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    28. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by Dragonslicer · · Score: 1

      We don't legally punish the person whose house get's broken into by a burglar for not securing their house properly.

      > That's because I'm not generally storing my stuff in my neighbor's house. However if I loan my lawnmower to my neighbor, and it gets stolen because he left his garage door open overnight, he is generally responsible civilly for my loss.

      Sorry to be a wet blanket here, but since when do you own anything on someone else's computer?

      That doesn't matter. The reason the neighbor would be liable for your loss isn't just because something that you own was stolen. The reason is that their actions, or lack thereof, caused you financial harm.

    29. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As soon as we will start fining people for "opening their mouth and making shit come out", figuratively speaking.

      SuperFly !!!!!!!!!!!

    30. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by SeaFox · · Score: 1

      When are we going to start fining companies that suffer a security breach?

      Just as soon as money gets out of politics.

    31. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thank you for reading and responding. I wish i knew you in real life, I would want to continue to expand and discuss especially regarding understandings of what the Bible says (Although i have come to a different understanding than you have I liked your comments on the word hell. It has been a study of mine as well, and I have traveled to that very valley on a few trips there) and of course talking about who God is.

      For me, faith in God (keep in mind that I do not mean religious practices or my own efforts at trying to please God by using the word faith or the phrase faith in God as if something I do can ever merit anything) means literally everything to me and is what teaches me how (this continues - not that I have finished learning) to be a loving dad, friend, person etc. As I said before I truly hope the best for you.

    32. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by Kozar_The_Malignant · · Score: 2

      Sorry to be a wet blanket here, but since when do you own anything on someone else's computer?

      I own dollars and Euros that have no physical existence except in my banks' computers. Ditto cryptocurrencies. Many people own copyrighted commercial and private personal information stored on someone leases computers in the cloud. Location does not equate to ownership.

      --
      Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
    33. Re:Gives a whole new meaning: Who's your daddy? by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      Some family members were forking everything in sight.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
  5. GDPR... by shatteredsilicon · · Score: 1

    ... is going to sting on this one...

    1. Re:GDPR... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      only if they breached data included data from EU people. Otherwise, GDPR doesn't care. (the company isn't an EU company)

    2. Re:GDPR... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well I think that's a good chance, since even if every single person in Israel was a user of this service that leaves almost 85 Million leaked accounts from outside of their bubble.

    3. Re:GDPR... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This kind of predates the GDPR.

    4. Re:GDPR... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I suspect that it has a lot of EU customers, as it was marketed in Europe, AFAIK.

  6. Gawd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anyone who willing gives their DNA to places like this is a FOOL.

    1. Re:Gawd by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      ...or you just don't care anymore because that particular cat is out of the bag already.

      Although this really only becomes a problem if DNA based discrimination is allowed. If that's the case, then you will be coerced into creating this data. Would be abusers won't need to depend on a data breach.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
  7. your mother's maiden name by goombah99 · · Score: 2

    or your father's middle name are now useless security questions. Along with your SS number, address, home telephone, ....

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
    1. Re:your mother's maiden name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about my SS number, and blood group?

    2. Re:your mother's maiden name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sigh.

      Security Question is an oxymoronic term.
      Any information that can possibly be known to anyone other than yourself is inherently insecure.
      Any answer that can be guessed is inherently insecure
      Any piece of information that you could have in common with another person regardless of relationship is inherently insecure.

      Mother's name = Smith
      Entire direct family knows this.
      Everyone in the world with a Smith in the family can stumble on it by accident (even if they don't mean to break your account)
      Everyone in the world can guess it.
      100% insecure from the start, no matter what value you use.

    3. Re:your mother's maiden name by goombah99 · · Score: 2

      take the security question. Hash it with your own secret salt. give that as the answer.

      --
      Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
    4. Re: your mother's maiden name by nitehawk214 · · Score: 1

      It became illegal to use SSN as an identifier for private companies a while back. The same should be for the security questions.

      Of course my mother's maiden name is a 32 byte hex string, so good luck with that. I had a bank employee thank me for having something that could not be easily hacked.

      --
      I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
    5. Re:your mother's maiden name by sexconker · · Score: 2

      The problem is many times answers are restricted to drop down responses or are tied to actual data about you (like past addresses, phone numbers, etc.).
      Another issue is that these are the things the customer service reps can see if you ever get locked out and need to call them.
      Good luck reading out a random password over the phone. No, BACKslash. It's going from top left to bottom right. No no, that's the grave / backtick.

    6. Re:your mother's maiden name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      hexadecimal

    7. Re:your mother's maiden name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ah yes, the good old SS number from during the second world war and before...

      Wonderful good old memories.

    8. Re:your mother's maiden name by bobbutts · · Score: 1

      I've been giving bs answers to these security questions for a long time. Just have to keep track of them. Much rather that than have my account "protected" by easily obtainable information.

    9. Re:your mother's maiden name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      if SS number is low, and blood group is tattooed ... then Israeli based company might be interested ... think Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem

      as somebody who does not have Social Security number ... why you have to enter real one?
      for my national ID there is plenty of generators to create correct but bogus number ...
      Question is: will company who received your data be able to cross check thm with official government set?

      at many sities my birth date is January 01 1970 ... because it is so round date. Easy to remember ...
      just create couple fake sets of data and use them.

    10. Re:your mother's maiden name by jrumney · · Score: 1

      These have always been useless security questions, as birth records are public documents.

    11. Re:your mother's maiden name by jrumney · · Score: 1

      Just because those are the questions, it doesn't mean you need to give truthful answers. As far as my bank knows, my mother's maiden name is hunter2.

    12. Re:your mother's maiden name by sexconker · · Score: 1

      Not all of the forms I've dealt with let you put in anything you want. Some are drop down or radio button controls tied to a set of options. This is frequently the case when they use a data set backed by "true" info about you (that they typically pull from the 3 major credit unions).

      Your mother's maiden name is *******?

  8. Credit Monitoring by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't worry, they are giving FREE Credit monitoring From EQUIFAX. I hear their musicologist, err "Security Officer" will compose an efficient and melodic response to any breaches.

  9. Re:Lock Him Up! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Donald Trump promised to commit treason?

  10. This ought to be particularly alarming by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    DNA testing results are particularly sensitive information. While these sites use the information to identify ancestry, they can also test for genetic risk factors for developing various illnesses. That information may be very useful to individuals who can make lifestyle and medical decisions to mitigate those risks. Unfortunately, that information can also be used by insurance companies to deny coverage and by potential employers to not hire people who are at higher risks to develop some medical conditions.

    There needs to be a certification process for handing sensitive data, meaning that businesses must be certified before they're legally allowed to handle information like DNA test results. That certification process should require third party audits to ensure that various standards are met. This would be followed up with random unannounced periodic checks to ensure that the business is still in compliance with those standards. Any business that is handling such data without certification should be subject to penalties at least as severe as if all the sensitive data was compromised in a breach. There needs to be standards for handling sensitive data and a certification process to ensure that the data is handled properly.

    1. Re: This ought to be particularly alarming by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The government should just make hacking illegal. That would solve it.

    2. Re: This ought to be particularly alarming by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, banning hacking is already covered by laws such as the CFAA, and you know that. Besides, this breach wasn't the result of a hack. The data was left unsecured on a server. Your comment isn't helpful. As for bans on hacking a much better idea to improve stricter standards on the handling of information like DNA test results. A fairly straightforward solution in the United States would be to make businesses like MyHeritage subject to the data protections included in HIPAA. If you're handing DNA information and doing business in the United States, you would be subject to that law.

    3. Re: This ought to be particularly alarming by Cinnamon+Beige · · Score: 2

      No, banning hacking is already covered by laws such as the CFAA, and you know that. Besides, this breach wasn't the result of a hack. The data was left unsecured on a server. Your comment isn't helpful. As for bans on hacking a much better idea to improve stricter standards on the handling of information like DNA test results. A fairly straightforward solution in the United States would be to make businesses like MyHeritage subject to the data protections included in HIPAA. If you're handing DNA information and doing business in the United States, you would be subject to that law.

      I'd actually be very, very surprised if HIPAA doesn't already cover DNA information, especially given that there are laws specifically in place covering genetic privacy to pretty much because it was decided that genetic discrimination is a problem that is most easily solved before it's particularly feasible.

  11. Shared heritage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So, a site that is all about shared heritage is now shared. Well, duh.

  12. 92 million ejaculations into my mouth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    now that's a record!

  13. Wonder if this stock is public or not... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If this stock were public, I'm sure the CEOs would have shorted it well before the hack announcement. This seems so common that having a company compromised is a good way to make the top brass richer, especially with insider trading laws not enforced these days.

  14. Oh shit! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This could resilt in doom of mankind!

  15. Data by Translation+Error · · Score: 1

    The data that was accessed seems to be a list of email addresses with hashed and salted passwords.

    --
    When someone says, "Any fool can see ..." they're usually exactly right.
  16. Every gods-be-damned WEEK. by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

    Every gods-be-damned week, there's more of this shit happening.

    You all have exactly TEN SECONDS to justify to me why, in 2018, with this shit happening every gods-be-damned week, you'd ever sign up for any internet service that requires your real name and other personal information. Lunacy, it's all lunacy.

    1. Re:Every gods-be-damned WEEK. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      _I_ didn't. My family - my mother in law specifically - may very well have. She still can't get over our marriage and yes she is the cranky old bat type.

      I highly doubt these companies require consent from everyone involved. Those databases are used by Government agencies after all.

    2. Re:Every gods-be-damned WEEK. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because there isn't a software development union ensuring such web security jobs aren't going to interns, new grads, nor people working on their first web project. Nor is there a certification or auditing agency making sure every company is using modern development practices.

      Someone compared it with house robbery. There are audit organizations and licensing groups which ensure the house was originally built to some partially secure design. Nothing is completely secure, but there is a minimal standard. The web has no such thing. You can trivially change an id in a URL on many sites and get someone else's results. Sometimes the site simply gives you someone else's data. It's amazing how many high-profile sites have had such bugs either do to bad processing or bad caching.

    3. Re:Every gods-be-damned WEEK. by slew · · Score: 1

      _I_ didn't. My family - my mother in law specifically - may very well have. She still can't get over our marriage and yes she is the cranky old bat type.

      I highly doubt these companies require consent from everyone involved. Those databases are used by Government agencies after all.

      And sometimes those databases are used to catch a serial killer...

      Of course the serial killer didn't give any consent, but he was apparently identified anyhow by tracing through a third cousin who uploaded their dna profile...

    4. Re:Every gods-be-damned WEEK. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey genius did you see where the OP said "why are you signing up for these sites"? Are you stupid? Or is the lack of security+your laziness your excuse for giving away your personal data to shitty websites?

  17. Re:Security, what security? Is that a thing we do? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't care how qualified the person is... if they tell you that ANYTHING you store online is, in any way, SECURE, they're lying to your face. Plain and simple.

    Security is about risk mitigation. Plain and simple.

    I can break into your house using a bump key on those shitty consumer-grade door locks of yours and take a hammer to your "ultra-secure" offline computer, proving that we shouldn't be taking advice from someone who ASS-U-MEs that network connectivity ultimately defines security.

    Oh, and thank you for comfirming why it's wise to consult someone both experienced and qualified.

  18. Serously by ArchieBunker · · Score: 0

    Can you express what it's like being that deep in the spectrum? Use your words...

    --
    Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
  19. the breach impacted 92,283,889 users by grep+-v+'.*'+* · · Score: 1

    Jesus Christ. Another? What a surprise. I feel like putting all of my details out in public on my own website.

    Why? Don't go to those other guys to get my info as it might be incorrect. At least retrieve it from the authoritative source where it's supposed to be right.

    I could also host a comment section in case anyone discovers something actually IS incorrect. Hell, you're already using my data, you might as well help me correct any inadvertent errors while you're at it.

    By the way, the security PIN for my debit card really is pi. You'd actually be surprised though at how many digits they will accept.

    --
    If the universe is someone's simulation -- does that mean the stars are just stuck pixels?
    1. Re:the breach impacted 92,283,889 users by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I feel like putting all of my details out in public on my own website.

      stupid idiot, you are connected to your friends, family, co-workers, you can't expose your own information without also exposing theirs.

      So yeah go ahead become a first class hypocrite and do the exact same thing that you hate others doing

      fuck-head

    2. Re:the breach impacted 92,283,889 users by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Jesus Christ. Another? What a surprise. I feel like putting all of my details out in public on my own website."

      Ironically it'd probably stay safer there than in the hands of these big businesses.

    3. Re:the breach impacted 92,283,889 users by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thank you for being just another dumb troll, on the internet.

      Your input has been greatly appreciated.
      Please go stand in line to pick up your weekly soylent green rations.

  20. Dr. Evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Dr. Evil and his secret eugenics program?

  21. Then they'll find out I'm neon/fluorescent WHITE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Then they'll find out I'm neon/fluorescent WHITE - My bro & I had our genetics tested by them & turns up I'm actually "purer" vs. folks in the area my family came from in Poland are as far as Polish ancestry (odd that) - 97.75% Polish, less than 1.2% Finnish & Spanish, combined.

    * Guess the "Cat's outta the bag" w/ ANOTHER databreach - So much for "SysAdmins" which I also point out what they REALLY are, here https://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=12190270&cid=56731886/ - mere scriptkiddies w/ a better password, not programmers they're DEPENDENT on - period!

    (Yes, there are bad coders too - I'm not "one of those" as my APK Hosts File Engine evidences as fact (as not even 1 bug or security issue found in it since mid 2012 public release to present & it's FAR FASTER/MORE EFFICIENT in its 2.0++ for Linux 64-bit release (soon for BSD + MacOS X too)).

    APK

    P.S.=> Incompetence abounds - but this is not one I'd be "ashamed of" or really WANT to "hide" (as morons did in the link I posted above, lol, as truth/fact BOTHERS them & there's NOTHING they can do vs. truth/fact - nothing (makes me laugh playing them like the easily manipulated puppets they are reacting JUST as I said they would & did, lol))... apk

  22. Re:Then they'll find out I'm neon/fluorescent WHIT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Another incoherent rant from APK brought to him by the letters S, P, and H
    He knows all about incompetence as he epitomizes it.
    Additionally APK is an expert on mental illness, having survived with it for ages, as well as racism and antisemitism being an ardent believer in both.

  23. Re:Security, what security? Is that a thing we do? by sexconker · · Score: 1

    And to do so you'd need to physically be there, and risk physically getting shot in the fucking gut.

  24. "hackers did it!" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    said the PR flacks. But, "data sitting on a server" ======= "hacked" now? (Also, did I add enough =, PHP?)

    1. Re: "hackers did it!" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      PHP is for assholes

    2. Re:"hackers did it!" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      PHP === 'Pre Hacked Pages'

    3. Re:"hackers did it!" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      If you bothered to RTFA or the linked announcement then you might have noticed the following:

      On Monday, MyHeritage says the company’s chief information security officer “received a message from a security researcher that he had found a file named myheritage containing email addresses and hashed password, on a private server outside of MyHeritage,” the announcement reads.

  25. And do you know what their website says right now? by argStyopa · · Score: 1

    Spring Special
    50% discount on the MyHeritage Complete plan, for the next few days only!
    Learn more

    So you have a breach SIX MONTHS AGO and not only do you not tell anyone, but the day you supposedly announce it, that doesn't seem to make it to your page? Really?

    --
    -Styopa
  26. "SPH" = Sysadmin Pussies Hiding, lol... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    SPH = Sysadmin Pussies Hiding what they REALLY are & this article shows their incompetence https://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=12190270&cid=56731886/

    * RoTfLmAo...

    APK

    P.S.=> Gonna "downmod hide" this "SysAdmins" (wannabe script kiddies, nothing more, w/ a better password only - mere users)... apk

    1. Re:"SPH" = Sysadmin Pussies Hiding, lol... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just blame Zontar for downmods and everything else as always

  27. Er, no by bagofbeans · · Score: 3, Informative

    Questions may be restricted, but the responses can be anything you choose. Your first car? Fattybut. Name of second school? 902010 etc

    1. Re:Er, no by sexconker · · Score: 1

      Questions may be restricted, but the responses can be anything you choose.

      Not always, unfortunately. And certainly not when they're using any info backed by the big 3 monsters (Equifax, Transunion, and Experian) that you may be forced to prove if something fucks up, such as living at a certain address, having a phone number, having a specific loan / financial account, etc.

      I have in my KeePass file notes that for certain security questions I have to answer incorrectly because the data they have on file is wrong. For example, they think my main phone number is a land line when it's a cell phone. If I get that question as a challenge and I answer it truthfully, I get locked out and have to call some support jockey. The last time it happened I had to resort to paper mail and inky signatures and excessive wait times.

  28. So, true story by FilmedInNoir · · Score: 1

    I paid for the test only to learn I'm a mayo sandwich on white bread with the crusts cut off... I was hoping for something cool (I might be Eastern European though)
    Anyway, checked my profile, and I used my hotmail account and filled out the forms using a single letter for each field. I blame genetics for my paranoia.

    --
    Sig. Sig. Sputnik
  29. Nay lads, bad biology by bagofbeans · · Score: 1

    It's an eating gut. Use your willy for the other activity.

  30. Pure gold for insurance companies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I wonder who might be behind this attack.

    1. Re:Pure gold for insurance companies by xystren · · Score: 1

      That was my first thought. I wonder how anonymized the data was? I'm sure there is a unique identifiers (or serial number) for the data, which is linked to the serialized spit bottle, which is linked to a purchase order and payment information. So much for anonymization protecting us.

      Now with it in the wild, you don't even need the unique identifier as the your DNA will provide that. But then again, its unlikely your insurance companies don't already have that information. Certain laws state they can't use that against someone, but would be virtually impossible to prove that they did (unless you caught them right in the act.).

  31. public info? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    so they had a breach of ... public info they scrape from sites people could go to on their own? what's the story?

  32. Jews did this. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    SSDD.

    Facebook, dinosaur media, Federal Reserve, hedge funds, banks, Hollywood etc.

    Kill the shit-vermin before you are rollin 6 million consipiracies forever.

    1. Re:Jews did this. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Kill yourself, make the world a better and safer place.
      better yet, become a suicide bomber, blow yourself and a group of your peers/relatives/antagonists up in one blaze of furious glory.

      Do IT
      DO IT NOW !

  33. The beauty of it. by gatfirls · · Score: 1

    *You* may not give up this information, but someone who has all of your personal information in their contacts on their phone may.

    It's a clusterfuck.

    1. Re:The beauty of it. by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      No one has 'all my personal' anything on their phone, and I don't use ANY 'social media', so there's nothing anyone I know has that can leak to anyone else.

    2. Re:The beauty of it. by gatfirls · · Score: 1

      Well congrats you are the unicorn who knows for a 100% fact that no one in the world has any personal information about you stored on their phone or elsewhere. I figured in this day you would have to live in the forest and never make contact with anyone to achieve that goal but here you are. The rest of us have family and friends and even acquaintances who may do this unbeknownst to us. Also data mining companies pretty much have all of your information anyway from decades of public records and 'PII for profit' companies.

      By the way; Slashdot is a form of social media.

    3. Re:The beauty of it. by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 0

      By the way; Slashdot is a form of social media.

      LOL maybe you basement dwelling neckbeards believe that, but since all Slashdot knows about me is a totally fake name and an email address, that really doesn't count for anything.

      Be a yellow-bellied abject fucking coward and accept the governmental and corporate erection up your ass all you like, buddy, if that's what makes you happy. Maybe they'll even give you a nice kiss afterwards, if you ask nicely for seconds. Fucking loser won't even be bothered to fight, LOL.

    4. Re:The beauty of it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bahah, you keep on keeping on, keyboard cowboy.

  34. Another "Fake name for a FAKE life"? LOL! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Zontar the Mindless who ADMITTED he stalks me via sockpuppets he makes & blows his "downmod points" on me abusing them?

    * Make me LAUGH some more - should I put out links where he ADMITS to his scumbaggery? Ask & ye SHALL receive you inferior weasel... lol!

    APK

    P.S.=> You know, I don't OWE you this but I'll put it out (as "your kind" the "not-men" need to hear it): You wonder WHY good women (keyword good) don't WANT "your kind"? Don't - you're SHITWEASELS & they know it (why don't you? You're stupid = why & LIMITED to being inferior whimps & pussies (& it's WHY you fuckup everytime))... apk

  35. SILENCE juden monster synagogue of Satan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Khazar Talmudic Jews believe this of all they call goyim/gentiles (non-jews): Jews = biggest racists of all for which they "jew guilt" you for no less & you can't be racist vs. a religious cult like them (though they accuse YOU of it)! They're hypocrites known as thieves all thru history or were these nations banishing them a lie? Argentines in 1940 under Peron, France (1306), Egypt (despoiled/robbed by jews), Arabs (pre & post 1948), England (1330 Edward longshanks), Romans under titus, Russia pogroms, Spanish inquistion & Spain 1492 and Germany who got rid of them from their nations nazi german's too? No. Driven into DESERTS ages ago! Don't wonder why after all those exilings above. Should anyone doubt any of this see Jacob Javits' crony Rosenthal spill the beans on it (which JEWgle's JEWTube has blocked, there are links below though that are not blocked proving it is truth) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4zMVZ8HnFI/ where he called all Christianity fools for helping Israel and the biggest scam of all time per their beliefs below from their Talmud. This is the province of the synagogue of Satan (Pharisees whom Jesus Christ himself kicked to the curb out of the temple & they killed him for it. Jeremiah did the same to them also + the Essenes could not stand them either breaking away from the pharisee corruption):

    Mark Zuckerberg who STOLE facebook's code from the Winklevoss twins (who dusted him in court on it) calling his users "DUMB FUCKS" & spied on his collegiate classmates via 'fakebook', home of bots and spying/tracking you, now in court FRYING (rightfully so). He also PAID OFF the courts (by political contributions like Jew AIPAC does) on the MAJORITY of the council judges there. He STILL had to apologize!

    Maria Abramovic satanist spirit cooker pal of Hillary Clinton the Voodoo queen is a jew https://www.google.com/search?...

    Like Hillary Clinton's mentor Saul Alinsky author of rules for radicals book dedicated to Lucifer

    John Podesta Hillary's pal again, is another JUDE with a pedophile brother (both = satanists too imo).

    "Most Jews do not like to admit it, but our god is Lucifer so I wasnÂ't lying Â- and we are his chosen people. Lucifer is very much aliveÂ" Harold Rosenthal http://www.thetruthseeker.co.u...

    Jewish rabbi openly admits to satan worship use white children's blood they kill for passover bread (which THIS video covers in detail https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU8Y1743QoY/ & how they ran the black slave trade + how they say a prayer to KILL US ALL (goyim) during passover), infiltrating and subverting the catholic church, creating the Jesuit order https://www.youtube.com/watch?... and https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
    or https://www.youtube.com/watch?... too!

    Barbara Spectre, a jew, tells everyone it's jews orchestrating the muslim migrant problem in Europe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFE0qAiofMQ/ (now blocked by JEWgle JEWTube, but this one is not https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85BKDj_1vVU/ ). No migrant raping of women in Poland. Tons in Sweden. Do the math. Use common-sense. This is to get muslims and other goyim/gentiles to wipe one another out as incompatible cultures that will clash and always have.

    Rabbi A. Finkelstein ADMITS their greatest enemies are ARABS and WHITES (blacks too) whom they wish to kill one

  36. Re:Lock Him Up! by painandgreed · · Score: 0

    Donald Trump promised to commit treason?

    Yep. He promised to commit treason (although as the President, he says he can't commit treason) and then pardon himself, just to show that it can be done and he can do it.

  37. Can DNA be use to detect by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0



    J tot J `MKS . FOGEY on FOGEY . FIBULAR `BEYOND on FOGEY on FOGEY .
    RT on J . J . J tot J `J tot J `J us are J tot J `J tot J `J tot J `
    J J . J . J . J us are J us are J us are J tot J `J us are ; `^ `J `
    J `J `J . J . J `THAN `J `THAN `FOGEY on BEYOND on FOGEY ; `^ MKS .
    J . J J . J . J tot J `J tot J `J us are J . J us are . J tot J tot
    J on RT . J . J tot J `J tot J `J us are J on J . J tot J us are on
    J tot J `MKS . FOGEY on FOGEY . FIBULAR `J tot J . FOGEY ; `^ J tot

  38. NSA took it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I got pulled over and beaten by the police yesterday. They apparently found out I was .002% African.

  39. sheesh! by jtgd · · Score: 1

    It's getting to where I don't trust anybody with anything.

    --
    J