Ashley Madison Case Site Hacked, Information Stolen From 37 Million Accounts
You won’t find Ashley Madison in any of Lifehacker’s guidebooks. However, a site aimed at helping people in existing relationships have an affair was hacked and the data of 37 million users was stolen. To make matters worse, this data is currently being held for ransom.
According to security site Krebs on Security (which previously reported the Home Depot hack ), Avid Life Media, Ashley Madison’s parent company, was hit by a hacking group calling itself Impact Team. The group currently holds a ransom claim on 37 million Avid Life Media users demanding that Ashley Madison and the Established Men partner site be permanently offline.
Stolen personal data includes the real names, financial records and personal data of users of the site. Although the data has not yet been released to the public, a small set of data was released first before it was turned off.
Avid Life Media released a statement saying the company has secured unauthorized access points and is currently working with law enforcement to identify those responsible for the attack and prevent data disclosure. It is unclear if there is anything users can do to protect their accounts.
Online Fraud Site, AshleyMadison, Hacked | Krebs on safety