UK Biobank nears reopening after 500,000 records were listed for sale
Original title: UK Biobank back online soon, months after someone tried to sell 500k people's data on Alibaba
Researchers will return in phases and cannot download result files until human reviewers check them.
UK Biobank says its Research Analysis Platform is now secure and academics should soon regain access, pending health-data controllers and UK government approval. The platform has been locked since an April attack that led to all 500,000 volunteers’ data being listed for sale on Alibaba. An independent cybersecurity review recommends reopening. More than 20,000 researchers use the cloud dataset. Initial access will bar downloads, public apps, data refresh, and SSH into jobs, and will require two-factor authentication.
Unconfirmed: Reopening still depends on approvals that have not been granted.
- About 30 petabytes cover volunteers aged 40 to 69 recruited from 2006 to 2010.
- Automatic logout is set after 15 minutes of inactivity.
- Researchers who have not confirmed deletion of de-identified data will stay locked out.
- UK Biobank had earlier told researchers to expect a September 2026 relaunch.
Impact: Volunteer health and genomic data listed for sale
- 1.Researchers must confirm deletion of de-identified participant data before readmission.
- Products
- UKB-RAP
- Victims
- UK Biobank
- Countries
- United KingdomChina
From the original article
3 min read at theregister.comCharity confirms slew of security improvements as it waits for UK. gov's go-ahead
By Connor Jones · theregister.com
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