Live data from Hacker News

Breach exposed more than one million DNA profiles on a major genealogy database

buzzfeednews.com

151–160 of 424 posts

Re: Breach exposed more than one million DNA profiles on a major genealogy database

#151
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just out of curiosity, is there a reason for Mormons to especially care about their genealogy?

> One of the core tenets of Mormon faith is that the dead can be baptized into the faith after their passing. Baptism of the dead evolved from the beliefs that baptism is necessary for salvation and that the family unit can continue to exist together beyond mortal life if all members are baptized. > Mormons trace their family trees to find the names of ancestors who died without learning about the restored Mormon Gos…

That leads to my afterlife nightmare scenario.

I die bravely in glorious battle and am chosen by the Valkyries for Valhalla. One evening as we feast after that day's fighting, quaffing giant tankards of mead and boasting of our deeds, there comes a knock at the door.

Two young men in suits enter, and go to speak to Odin.

Odin then call for me to come over. He tells me that the young men are Mormons, and that some distant relative born long after I died (great-grandkid of a second cousin or something like that) has joined the Mormon church and has been busy baptizing the whole damn family tree.

Odin tells me I'm Mormon now, and cannot stay in Valhalla. I must move to the Mormon afterlife.

(Actually, the Mormon afterlife doesn't seem all that bad compared to that of most Christian or Christian-adjacent religions, in the sense that if you reject their teachings but still live a decent life you get a decent afterlife).

Re: Breach exposed more than one million DNA profiles on a major genealogy database

#152

As someone who works in cybersecurity, it's always hard for me to interpret PR language like "orchestrated through a sophisticated attack". This could be aimed towards non-savvy readers meaning basically anything or it could be accurate and describe a nation-state (although I don't get the feeling of a sophisticated nation-state actor here). The DoJ used similar wording when prosecuting Aaron Schwartz for using Pytho…

To be fair, curl is a nightmare of pedantry without something like postman to deal with it all for you. BTW, when did postman come out anyway?

Postman is nice and ergonomic!

curl is great if you already have the command crafted. My suspicion is that the Python script scraping a web page for URLs/IDs which then ran a curl shell command which saved the resulting document to the file system.

Re: Breach exposed more than one million DNA profiles on a major genealogy database

#153
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does the GED stand for? Genetic ??? Database? To someone who grew up in the U.S., GEDmatch sounds like a dating site for people who took a test in lue of completing secondary education.

One use of GED is for GEnealogical Data[base], or Genealogy Data. GED files have been used for decades in genealogical circles at least. So I think that's what they're referring to? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/GEDCOM , for example.

Yes, that's right. You can attach genealogy information to a genetic profile on the site, and the link says "GED".

Re: Breach exposed more than one million DNA profiles on a major genealogy database

#156
post #27

Can someone explain the potential short to medium term fears of one's DNA leaking? My initial assumption is that it would be less of a problem compared to nearly any other personal data leaking. Like it certainly sounds creepy, but credit card or other financial data being stolen presents a huge headache and creates a lot of work. I understand that in specific instances, for example when paternity is in question or i…

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The DNA records aren't the type that can be used to clone you, or frame you with some kind of non-existent DNA copying machine. They are autosomal records. (or similar genealogical, or non-medical, types) The people spinning fantastic fairytales about how the jackbooted thug of big brother is going to crush your throat probably don't even know what autosomal means and no amount of eductio…

> or frame you with some kind of non-existent DNA copying machine

I can imagine the hacker swaps your name + account metadata on the data warehouse website with the DNA content of a murderer. Then you get a visit from the police just like you were being SWATted.

The mismatch is only found if the police bother to verify by doing a fresh DNA comparison (which they might, but only if they can't convince you to admit guilt first).

Re: Breach exposed more than one million DNA profiles on a major genealogy database

#157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Send someone up to space each year and sprinkle water on earth, do a bulk lot.

Unfortunately won't work unless you flood the world, because Mormons only do baptism by full immersion.

They only need to wait a century or two then... and try to release more greenhouse gases if possible.

Re: Breach exposed more than one million DNA profiles on a major genealogy database

#158
post #27

Can someone explain the potential short to medium term fears of one's DNA leaking? My initial assumption is that it would be less of a problem compared to nearly any other personal data leaking. Like it certainly sounds creepy, but credit card or other financial data being stolen presents a huge headache and creates a lot of work. I understand that in specific instances, for example when paternity is in question or i…

I may be one of the people who lost DNA in this breach. I am not currently worried about anything, but I also know that I don’t know everything DNA can be used for. My greatest concern consists of things some smart crook might think of doing. While a reputable company might not use the DNA for fear of getting sued, they might use a crappy contractor who does not care. Banks care about information security and take it…

This is a side note about your example, but you say "Banks care about information security and take it seriously. They use a crappy contractor called Equifax which doesn’t." If banks send important information to a contractor which they're unable to verify takes information security seriously, then it's hard to see how the banks can be said to be taking it seriously.

Re: Breach exposed more than one million DNA profiles on a major genealogy database

#159

This is the same level as having a breach of biometric data. With password/payment/location breaches you have the ability to change what you entered as to invalidate/outdate the data which was stored. Having your biometric/genome authentication data stolen or made public will be a nightmare.

According to GEDMatch, they do not store genomes.

Re: Breach exposed more than one million DNA profiles on a major genealogy database

#160
post #151
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> One of the core tenets of Mormon faith is that the dead can be baptized into the faith after their passing. Baptism of the dead evolved from the beliefs that baptism is necessary for salvation and that the family unit can continue to exist together beyond mortal life if all members are baptized. > Mormons trace their family trees to find the names of ancestors who died without learning about the restored Mormon Gos…

That leads to my afterlife nightmare scenario. I die bravely in glorious battle and am chosen by the Valkyries for Valhalla. One evening as we feast after that day's fighting, quaffing giant tankards of mead and boasting of our deeds, there comes a knock at the door. Two young men in suits enter, and go to speak to Odin. Odin then call for me to come over. He tells me that the young men are Mormons, and that some dis…

Valhalla is only good if you keep winning the afterlife wars!
Post reply on HN