Ashley Madison Hack Reveals Affairs

The Ashley Madison site is infamous for its open promotion of having affairs. It is a site used by cheating spouses to find others desiring affairs. In fact, they “guarantee you will find the perfect affair partner.” Site users were exposed by hackers in August and the data dump is explosive.

The data dump of 9.7 GB was released on “the dark web” and was only accessible through a Tor browser. It contains account information for approximately 32 million members of Ashley Madison.  Names, passwords, telephone numbers, and physical addresses were just some of the details made public. Even those who may have used fake names and information were exposed if they paid via credit card. The data ranges from 2008-present.

A look at email addresses shows that 15,000 were government addresses. They may or may not be authentic.

One of the famous names revealed was Josh Duggar, of the former reality show “19 Kids & Counting.” He has already caused problems for the family with his admission of touching his younger siblings inappropriately and having an affair. There are allegedly actors, an NFL player, politicians, and major executives from Fortune 500 companies on the list. Bankers, Vatican employees, and more have all been exposed to prime opportunities for blackmail as well as marriage

Along with personal information, the data includes sexual fantasies and desires for cheating partners. Their questionnaire answers are also included, with an index explaining what each of the numbers 1-60 mean.

Damage control is whirling in Hollywood and Washington as those famous names attempt to deny use of the site. Some reports say there are actually more celebrity users who used fake names and email addresses with prepaid credit cards so they would not be caught.

A private investigation startup is capitalizing on the situation by allowing people to search the data and then hire investigators to research any names that cause them concern. It didn’t take long for them to find a way to exploit the situation to their own benefit.

Many of the identified Ashley Madison users deny that they are involved, saying that their identities were stolen or that someone maliciously listed them on the site. Some have admitted to signing up, for curiosity, but never used the site’s services. One member actually attempted to rationalize using the site because he needs someone more sexually uninhibited than his wife.

Examination of the data shows shoddy security and data storage on  Ashley Madison’s part. Seven years of credit card details were stored, employees were using passwords that were easy to hack (Password1234), and encryption that was substandard.

The hackers claim that even users who paid to delete their information from the site were still included in all of the files. A “full delete” was promised for a fee of ₤15, but the service was apparently not provided.

Exposed users have been encouraged to sue Ashley Madison and claim damages, as the FBI initiates an investigation of the cyber hackers responsible. In the meantime, cheaters everywhere are scrambling to cover their tracks…