Services that allow people to discover their family tree and find their ancestors' origins through their DNA have become very popular in recent times . However, when someone lists their genetic information in an online database, they expose that information to a new threat.
According to a study conducted at the University of California, Davis, these services may be vulnerable to certain variants of genetic hacking. When users upload DNA sequences to databases, hackers can steal the genomes of many people or even identify certain individuals by specific genetic variants, such as those that cause Alzheimer's.
According to Professor Graham Coop, users are exposing far more than they realize when they upload their genetic data. As he comments, the genome is not a stolen credit cardthat you can simply cancel and order a new one.
It's worth noting that vulnerabilities don't affect for-profit services, where a user sends a DNA sample and receives a code that allows them to see the results of their family tree. Those at risk are those that simply provide an online database that anyone can access and see if their genetic material matches someone else's.
Όπως ανακάλυψε η ερευνητική ομάδα, υπάρχουν τρεις τύποι επιθέσεων: η IBS Tiling, η IBS Probing και η IBS Baiting.
IBS Tiling: A hacker could obtain genomes from a database and see which ones match other genomes within it. If enough matching pieces are found, a person's genome could potentially be revealed.
IBS Probing: This approach could be used to find people who carry a specific genetic variant. The study used a gene linked to Alzheimer's as an example. In this approach, a fake genome would be created with a DNA sequence unlikely to match anyone, except for a small portion of the sequence that would match the gene the perpetrator is interested in. Any matches in a public database for this fake genome would reveal people with that specific gene.
IBS Baiting: This strategy tricks a class of algorithms used to identify relatives in certain public databases. A hacker could find almost all of the genetic information stored in an entire database.
All three strategies could potentially be carried out by a person with knowledge of both computer science and genetics, such as a graduate student.
Anyone using these services should be aware of the potential risks, as well as how much of their information could be stolen by hackers.
