The genetic testing company 23andMe is investigating after a hacker announced the sale of its data on millions of customers, highlighting people of Jewish ancestry. The information may include photos, email addresses, gender, date of birth, and DNA ancestry, and the hacker suggested using the data on ethnicity to target people, Bloomberg reports. The company, which provides ancestry and health reports after analyzing saliva submitted by customers, said Friday that the data being marketed on a hacker forum was genuine and that law enforcement agencies had been informed.
A 23andMe spokesperson said no signs of a systems breach were found, suggesting someone got into individual accounts by using using credentials found in databases for other online services' hacked accounts. An anonymous seller posted on Oct. 2 that a "one million Ashkenazi database," referring to people of central and eastern European Jewish heritage, was posted on a forum for selling hacked data. The company said people with just 1% Jewish ancestry would be included. The stolen data could cover more than half of 23andMe's 14 million customers, per the Washington Post. (More 23andMe stories.)