NSW official emails linked to cheat hack

Last month the hackers had demanded that ALM take down Ashley Madison and its companion site Established Men, which promises to connect lovely young women with rich sugar daddies “to fulfil their lifestyle needs”, or else it would publish users’ personal information.

“This event is not an act of hacktivism, it is an act of criminality”, the company said in a statement.

Avid Life Media responded to the data dump by saying it had referred the matter to law enforcement agencies.

Ashley Madison members would likely be best served by coming clean instead of waiting to see if their indiscretion is discovered, said Dr B Janet Hibbs, a psychologist and couples therapist in Philadelphia.

The Associated Press wasn’t immediately able to determine the authenticity of the leaked files, although many analysts who have scanned the data believe it is genuine. Names‚ street addresses‚ credit card details and even biographies that include sexual preferences are included. The hackers didn’t return messages either.

The prospect of millions of adulterous partners being publicly shamed drew widespread attention but the sheer size of the database – and the technical savvy needed to navigate it – means it’s unlikely to lead to an immediate rush to divorce courts. “There are much simpler ways to confirm their suspicions”. “But this is on the Deep Web and Ashley Madison cannot remove it from there”.

Although many may have signed up out of curiosity and some have little more to fear than embarrassment, the consequences for others could reverberate beyond their marriages.

A website named CheckAshleyMadison.com popped up and it could let the visitor know if a phone number or e-mail address is available in the leaked files.

Hackers dumped a big cache of data containing millions of email addresses for US government officials, UK civil servants and high-level executives at European and North America corporations, the latest cyberattack to raise concerns about internet security and data protection.

“It’s not that dumb”, Damuseau said. “I am not aware of or in contact with either Avid Life or Ashley Madison and look forward to finding out more about what has actually happened”.

People are looking for the Ashley Madison data through various sources.

The hackers have appointed themselves as “the moral judge, juror, and executioner, seeing fit to impose a personal notion of virtue on all of society”, Avid Life Media, the company that owns the website, said in a statement.

“In all probability, their motivation is that #1 it’s fun, and #2 because they can”, he wrote.