Cybercriminals who have hacked into an ancestry website could use the data to target hundreds of thousands of Britons.
The DNA profiling firm 23andMe has warned that a hacker named ‘Golem’ leaked the genetic profiles of 4million of its users, including data linked to the British Royal Family and dynasties such as the Rothschilds and Rockefellers.
Chillingly the hacker has said that the massive release is to target ‘families serving Zionism’, sparking fears it could be used to target users based on their ethnicity, especially the Jewish community.
But experts have warned that data from the site, and other firms such as AncestryDNA and MyHeritage, could be used to target anyone who has submitted a £100 swab.
It is claimed that nefarious criminals could use the information obtained through hacking these sites to blackmail users and impersonate them.
Data about people’s DNA is in high demand on the black market, according to The Street.
Information about people’s ancestry and familial relationships could be ripe for use in blackmail plots if people have hidden secrets, it claims.
Additionally, the personal information taken from people’s profiles on the sites, including phone numbers, addresses, names and birth dates could be used in scams and fraud.
The dataset taken from 23andMe includes four million customers who have ancestry in Great Britain, Golem has claimed, saying the genetic profiles include ‘the wealthiest people living in the US and Western Europe.’
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