Hackers Publish Names, Data of Ashley Madison Users

“Unless this Ashley Madison information becomes very easily accessible and searchable, I think it is unlikely that anyone but the most paranoid or suspecting spouses will bother to seek out this information”, New York divorce attorney Michael DiFalco said in an email.

“It is an illegal action against the individual members of AshleyMadison.com, as well as any freethinking people who choose to engage in fully lawful online activities”, the company said. And just like with any ordinary data breach, they would have to prove they were harmed in some way in order to collect damages.

In a statement ALM said: “We will continue to put forth substantial efforts into removing information unlawfully released to the public, as well as continuing to operate our business”.

The hackers responsible for breaking into the systems of cheating Web site Ashley Madison have apparently made good on their threat to publicly dump data about the site’s millions of users. “Have an affair”.

The online dating agency, which specialises in affairs, was hacked by a group calling itself The Impact Team. It added that law enforcement in both the US and Canada is investigating and declined comment beyond its statement.

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.

The information has reportedly been posted on the Dark Web, described as the “underground of the internet” or the “internet black market”. The information that was posted included customer names and credit card numbers, Thorsheim said.

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

Run by a Canada-based company called Avid Life Media, Ashley Madison was founded in 2001 and has a reported 33 million users in 46 countries.

Fitzy said he felt like he was on an episode of Jerry Springer when they banged Jo’s husband’s details into the document dump they said they had access to.

But Driscoll acknowledges that those prospects probably hinge on whether the courts will allow those suing Avid Life to remain anonymous. “We’re getting a lot of phone calls”. Potential embarrassment probably isn’t enough to justify that, and such a request would likely draw strong opposition from defense lawyers, he says.