Are you Exposed? Hackers of Infidelity Site Ashley Madison Release Database of 33M Accounts

Millions of accounts from the infidelity site, Ashley Madison, have been released.  

Hackers have targeted the site, whose tagline is “Life is short. Have an affair,” releasing sensitive and confidential information of 33 million user accounts. Information that includes names, addresses, emails and information about their sexual preferences.

The information hasn’t been made public, but hackers created a database only accessible through a specialized web browser called Tor.  One coder then created a site for users to go in and enter an email address to check whether or not it matched their records. This would allow spouses to check whether their partners had an account on the site.

ashleymadison.com

So far, the accounts stolen appear to come from all over the globe, including government officials, the military and large companies. However, some of the emails appear to be fake, since the site didn’t verify customer’s email addresses.

The site did have a “full delete” option, which allowed users to delete all sign of their information on the site. However, this feature was proven to not work effectively.

The leaked information not only obtained names and addresses, but also information on their relationship status, what they were open to sexually and what they hoped to find in a partner.

In response to the attack, the company released a statement saying, “we will continue to put forth substantial efforts into removing any information unlawfully released to the public, as well as continuing to operate our business.”