Ashley Madison, a dating site for married people who want to have affairs, stated on Monday that it had been attacked and some user data was stolen, according to CNN Money.
Users of the website and its services may be in hot water as Brian Kebs, the blogger who first reported the breach, reportedly stated that the hackers were threatening to release all of Ashley Madison’s customer records if the website isn’t shut down.
Information that could potentially be released reportedly includes “profiles with all the customers’ secret sexual fantasies and matching credit card transactions, real names and addresses, and employee documents and emails.”
“Life is short. Have an affair,” may have been too bold of a slogan.
“At this time, we have been able to secure our sites, and close the unauthorized access points. We are working with law enforcement agencies, which are investigating this criminal act,” Avid Life Media said in a statement.
Hackers operating under the name Impact Team are believed to have used an unspecified method to breach Avid Life Media, according to Business Insider. Avid Life Media is reportedly a Toronto-Based company that owns Ashley Madison and various other dating sites including Cougar Life and Established Men.
The attacks were reportedly designed to “punish” Ashley Madison, which the hackers accused of charging a “full-delete service” that actually doesn’t delete the paying customers’ information.
An Ashley Madison representative has denied the allegation in a statement to the Business Insider.
“Contrary to current media reports, and based on accusations posted online by a cyber criminal, the paid-delete’ option offered by AshelyMadison.com does in fact remove all information related to a member’s profile and communications activity,” the statement read.
“The process involves a hard-delete of a requesting user's profile, including the removal of posted pictures and all messages sent to other system users' email boxes. This option was developed due to specific member requests for just such a service, and designed based on their feedback.”
The recent hack reportedly followed a similar event in March when the personal information of the members of Adult FriendFinder was hacked.
