If you’ve tried to embark on an affair using the Internet over the past few years then your palms are probably sweating right now, as it has been revealed that hackers have leaked 9.7 gigabytes of data obtained from Ashley Madison, a dating site for married people who are looking to cheat on their partners.
The information obtained include members’ accounts and their credit card details, meaning that the full names and addresses of those who have signed up for an account on the site are now in the public domain. The hackers, who dub themselves The Impact Team, released the data after their demands had not been met, with them having requested that Ashley Madison’s owners Avid Life Media shut the site down.
Ashley Madison’s slogan is “Life is short. Have an affair.”
In a statement posted alongside the release of the leaked data, the hackers wrote:
Avid Life Media has failed to take down Ashley Madison and Established Men. We have explained the fraud, deceit, and stupidity of ALM and their members. Now everyone gets to see their data.
Find someone you know in here? Keep in mind the site is a scam with thousands of fake female profiles. See ashley madison fake profile lawsuit; 90-95% of actual users are male. Chances are your man signed up on the world’s biggest affair site, but never had one. He just tried to. If that distinction matters.
Find yourself in here? It was ALM that failed you and lied to you. Prosecute them and claim damages. Then move on with your life. Learn your lesson and make amends. Embarrassing now, but you’ll get over it.
Though Ashley Madison is obviously a website with a morally dubious concept, and judgments can certainly be made about those who use it, it really is no one’s place to leak the data of its customers no matter their personal opinion on their sex lives. The assertion that those affected by the hacks should “prosecute [Ashley Madison] and claim damages” and then “move on” is also quite condescending – I’m sure the hackers involved wouldn’t particularly want their Internet footprint being broadcast for the world to see, and would likely have a tough time “moving on” if such an event were to happen.
Wired reports that the data leaked by the hackers has only been made accessible through the anonymous Tor browser, and that the files contain the account details for around 32 million users of the site. Avid Life Media released a statement following the leak, saying: “The criminal, or criminals, involved in this act have appointed themselves as the moral judge, juror, and executioner, seeing fit to impose a personal notion of virtue on all of society. We will not sit idly by and allow these thieves to force their personal ideology on citizens around the world.”
