Online cheating site Ashley Madison Hacked

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**Frazzled**

Holy jee willickers Batman! Its extortion time (why didn't I think of this profit making idea?)

http://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/07/online-cheating-site-ashleymadison-hacked/

Online Cheating Site AshleyMadison Hacked

Large caches of data stolen from online cheating site AshleyMadison.com have been posted online by an individual or group that claims to have completely compromised the company’s user databases, financial records and other proprietary information. The still-unfolding leak could be quite damaging to some 37 million users of the hookup service, whose slogan is “Life is short. Have an affair.”

The data released by the hacker or hackers — which self-identify as The Impact Team — includes sensitive internal data stolen from Avid Life Media (ALM), the Toronto-based firm that owns AshleyMadison as well as related hookup sites Cougar Life and Established Men.

Reached by KrebsOnSecurity late Sunday evening, ALM Chief Executive Noel Biderman confirmed the hack, and said the company was “working diligently and feverishly” to take down ALM’s intellectual property. Indeed, in the short span of 30 minutes between that brief interview and the publication of this story, several of the Impact Team’s Web links were no longer responding.

“We’re not denying this happened,” Biderman said. “Like us or not, this is still a criminal act.”

Besides snippets of account data apparently sampled at random from among some 40 million users across ALM’s trio of properties, the hackers leaked maps of internal company servers, employee network account information, company bank account data and salary information.

The compromise comes less than two months after intruders stole and leaked online user data on millions of accounts from hookup site AdultFriendFinder.

In a long manifesto posted alongside the stolen ALM data, The Impact Team said it decided to publish the information in response to alleged lies ALM told its customers about a service that allows members to completely erase their profile information for a $19 fee.

According to the hackers, although the “full delete” feature that Ashley Madison advertises promises “removal of site usage history and personally identifiable information from the site,” users’ purchase details — including real name and address — aren’t actually scrubbed.

“Full Delete netted ALM $1.7mm in revenue in 2014. It’s also a complete lie,” the hacking group wrote. “Users almost always pay with credit card; their purchase details are not removed as promised, and include real name and address, which is of course the most important information the users want removed.”

Their demands continue:

“Avid Life Media has been instructed to take Ashley Madison and Established Men offline permanently in all forms, or we will release all customer records, including profiles with all the customers’ secret sexual fantasies and matching credit card transactions, real names and addresses, and employee documents and emails. The other websites may stay online.”

**Dreadwinter**

You beat my by 3 minutes! Also, this is a pretty big mess up. Some guys are going to be sweating bullets.....

**reds8n**

...37M users ?!?!

Good grief.

**Frazzled**

While abhorring hackers, this is pretty damn funny.

**PhantomViper**

Frazzled wrote:
Holy jee willickers Batman! Its extortion time (why didn't I think of this profit making idea?)

Damn... Hmmm... Excuse me while I go out and change my CC details...

**whembly**

"Oh gak!" -Bill Clinton

**Howard A Treesong**

I think most fraud through 'hacking' is actually an inside job just because it's so much easier than actually trying to crack modern computer security especially that related to online banking.

Funnily enough I don't have sympathy for people using this site. It's not a nice thing to happen but if you're cheating on your partner and lying to them them then you're not a very nice person, what goes around comes around.

**Dreadclaw69**

I wonder how many spouses will be acting strangely as this sordid saga progresses

**angelofvengeance**

I have no sympathy for those 37m users (seriously, wtf?!). If they're not happy with the person they're with, they should finish the relationship and move on.

**Dreadwinter**

Look on the bright side guys, lots of single ladies soon!

**Dreadclaw69**

Does this mean you'll start to practice more divorce law Frazz?

**Frazzled**

Dreadclaw69 wrote:
Does this mean you'll start to practice more divorce law Frazz?

Did I mention the "He Needed Killing Your Honor" self defense clause for Texas women applies to divorces as well? We call it the "quickie divorce" also known as the "roadkill mediation settlement"

wait....

**kronk**

"as well as related hookup sites Cougar Life"

Where was that when I was 21 and fit? :-)

**Frazzled**

kronk wrote:
"as well as related hookup sites Cougar Life"

Where was that when I was 21 and fit? :-)

Don't be modest, we know the only thing between Europe and population implosion is the mighty Kronk.

**nels1031**

Did Katherine Archuleta get a new job at Ashley Madison?

**Sigvatr**

kronk wrote:
"as well as related hookup sites Cougar Life"

Where was that when I was 21 and fit? :-)

Tinder was invented like 10 years TOO LATE.

**Wyrmalla**

Huh, I confused this with another big bit of news in the hacking world that occurred recently. I can't remember the name of the company, but it was Italian, and had a business model based around selling day zero vulnerabilities and other exploits to the highest bidder. Ironically their own security was rather poor and all of their data was released online. It turns out that Adobe Flash is full of holes and that company was selling to really, really shady countries.

Ah here's the article, sorry if this is thread jacking (though I didn't see any threads here on the subject, which given the extent of the crap this group was pulling was unusual).

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/07/hacking-teams-surveillance-software-sold-to-kgb-successor/

**BlaxicanX**

angelofvengeance wrote:
If they're not happy with the person they're with, they should finish the relationship and move on.

I disagree with that. For one thing, cheating on your significant other doesn't necessarily mean that you don't love them anymore, and for another if the relationship is mostly going well and you're both benefiting from being in it, it seems counter-productive to break it off if you don't have to- especially if you have little kids. I would rather some dude cheat on his wife and keep the family together then file for a divorce and feth up his kids for life.

**Psienesis**

angelofvengeance wrote:
I have no sympathy for those 37m users (seriously, wtf?!). If they're not happy with the person they're with, they should finish the relationship and move on.

So much of this.

Can't have your cake and eat it, too, folks.

**Disciple of Fate**

BlaxicanX wrote:
angelofvengeance wrote:
If they're not happy with the person they're with, they should finish the relationship and move on.
I disagree with that actually. For one thing, cheating on your significant other doesn't necessarily mean that you don't love them anymore, and for another if the relationship is mostly going well and you're both benefiting from being in it, it seems counter-productive to break it off if you don't have to- especially if you have little kids. I would rather some dude cheat on his wife and keep the family together then file for a divorce and feth up his kids for life.

Because the person youre with doesnt deserve to know/be happy?

**BlaxicanX**

If they don't know, how is it hurting them?

**Disciple of Fate**

BlaxicanX wrote:
If they don't know, how is it hurting them?

Seems love is quite one sided then, pretty cynical view.

**BlaxicanX**

Are you trying to claim that if you cheat on your significant other you don't love them?

**Frazzled**

BlaxicanX wrote:
Are you trying to claim that if you cheat on your significant other you don't love them?

yes, further you are a mangy rat who should be shot fourteen times, starting in the foot and ending in the mouth. is that clear enough? Your view may be different, but it is of course, wrong.

**Disciple of Fate**

If you love them enough then why not tell them? If they love you they wont leave you right? Guess these people dont have that much confidence in their own 'love' life.

**kronk**

Putting aside the cheating morals for a moment, I think the biggest kick I'm getting from this is

In a long manifesto posted alongside the stolen ALM data, The Impact Team said it decided to publish the information in response to alleged lies ALM told its customers about a service that allows members to completely erase their profile information for a $19 fee.

According to the hackers, although the “full delete” feature that Ashley Madison advertises promises “removal of site usage history and personally identifiable information from the site,” users’ purchase details — including real name and address — aren’t actually scrubbed.

The narrative of the hack is not "cheating is wrong, and you should all be ashamed!"

It's "AM isn't protecting your privacy, so we are sharing it with the world!"

LOL!

**BlaxicanX**

Frazzled wrote:
BlaxicanX wrote:
Are you trying to claim that if you cheat on your significant other you don't love them?

yes

Whelp, you're wrong.

Disciple of Fate wrote:
If you love them enough then why not tell them? If they love you they wont leave you right? Guess these people dont have that much confidence in their own 'love' life.

I'm not sure if you're trying to talk to me, or at me.

**Psienesis**

There's financial losses, violation of trust, violation of marriage contracts, and potential risk of harm.

You have Person A, who is cheating on Person B. Person A is spending money, potentially a lot of money, on Person C, with whom they are being unfaithful. In most marriages, this is a fundamental violation of the terms of the union and, in terms of shared accounts and such, might also constitute theft (especially if Person B is the "breadwinner").

Just to present a couple scenarios.

**Frazzled**

exactly. Hence my kciking myself for not thinking of it sooner.

**Disciple of Fate**

BlaxicanX wrote:
Disciple of Fate wrote:
If you love them enough then why not tell them? If they love you they wont leave you right? Guess these people dont have that much confidence in their own 'love' life.
I'm not sure if you're trying to talk to me, or at me.

Just wondering about your answers. Would you stay with a person that cheats on you?