HackingTechnologyInformationCustomer Data InvolvedCredentialsIdentity (basic)HighContained

Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.

bd_9e52af991ea46d8c · schema v1 · pii pii-v1

Severity

High

Discovered

Dec 20, 2017

Filed

Dec 23, 2017

To disclose

3 days

Affected

300,000

Confidence

66%

Full breach record for Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. →

Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. disclosed that a security researcher reported a file containing 300,000 RootsWeb username/email and password combinations. The incident was discovered on December 20, 2017. Approximately 55,000 users had overlapping credentials with Ancestry commercial sites. Ancestry locked affected accounts, took RootsWeb offline, and initiated a forensic investigation. No sensitive financial or government ID data was exposed.

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California clockDiscovered Dec 20, 2017 → Notified Dec 23, 20173d ✓ CA 60-day OK3 days discovery → filing

Incident timeline

discovery → filing · 3 days

Dec 20, 2017

Discovered

Dec 23, 2017

Filed

vs. sector median

18 wks faster

Tracked as a single-filing incident — the only disclosure on record for this event so far.Confirmed300,000 affectedView incident

Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.
norm: ancestrycom operations
Domain: ancestry.com

Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.
norm: ancestrycom operations
Domain: ancestry.com
Industry: Technologyllm

Discovered: Dec 20, 2017
Materiality determined: —
Notification sent: Dec 23, 2017
Affected individuals: 300,000nationwide
Data types: CredentialsIdentity (basic)
Attack vector: Unknown
MITRE ATT&CK: T1078 Valid Accounts
Threat actor: External

During the incident: Locked affected Ancestry accounts and required password resets
Temporarily took RootsWeb offline
Commenced forensic investigation of RootsWeb systems
Sent email notifications to impacted customers
Changes made: Working to resolve security gaps associated with the incident
Enhancing RootsWeb infrastructure
Conducting deep analysis of RootsWeb design and security
Source: Quoted from the filing itself, not independently verified.

Time to disclose: 3 days(3 days from discovery to filing)
Compliance flags: CA 60-day OK · 3d
Discovery-date grounding: letter-groundedThe discovery date is the detection date narrated in the notification letter — the defensible tier.
Clock breakdown: Statute Window Elapsed Threshold Status
California
Discovered: Dec 20, 2017
→ Notified: Dec 23, 2017
3d 60 days (analyst band, pre-2026 discoveries) CA 60-day OK

Statute	Window	Elapsed	Threshold	Status
California	Discovered: Dec 20, 2017 → Notified: Dec 23, 2017	3d	60 days (analyst band, pre-2026 discoveries)	CA 60-day OK

Status: No extraction artifact recorded for this disclosure.

Evidence ladder

Leak-site claim

Attacker assertion only. Establishes: claim date, group, alleged victim.

Press / market report

Unlocks: incident narrative, operational impact. Still no compliance clock.

State AG / regulator filingThis record

Unlocks: discovery date, data types, affected count, compliance clock.

SEC 8-K / victim statement

Unlocks: materiality, stated response, full audit trail. Ceiling removed.

Source URL: https://oag.ca.gov/ecrime/databreach/reports/sb24-131600
DisclosureLens links to the originating regulator URL — full filing bodies are not redistributed from public surfaces (§4.5).
Filed at: Dec 23, 2017
Raw hash: d0708b962641e015aacb0e86383f916a091f850845dbbec7b00198a670f46f4f

Reporting entityAncestry.com Operations, Inc.

Victim entityAncestry.com Operations, Inc.

Incidentdiscovered Dec 20, 2017

Stated responseLocked affected Ancestry accounts and required password resets

ComplianceCA 60-day OK

Extraction provenanceno artifact recorded

Source provenanceoag.ca.gov