The Ashley Madison hack, which took place in July , was one of the most high-profile data breaches ever, resulting in 37 million user accounts being spewed across the Internet. The Avid Life Media-ran website was taken down by the hacking group Impact Team, which then released the account details of users including names, credit card records and email addresses.
For any other business, the data breach would have meant a reputation hit, free credit monitoring would be offered and the company would have faced angry customers for a bit. Perhaps insurance would have picked up some of the breach costs. But Ashley Madison wasn't your average website. Ashley Madison served as a marketplace for people looking to have discreet extramarital affairs and casual relationships. While you shouldn't immediately judge users for having accounts on Ashley Madison as you don't know their circumstances -- were they drunk and browsing?
Single and after a casual fling? On the site with their partner's blessing for whatever reason? For Ashley Madison users, free credit monitoring wasn't much of a fix. And the fallout continues even though folks' Ashley Madison usage was discovered by bosses, families and partners weeks ago. Here's one tale about the ongoing Ashley Madison fallout. For one anonymous user, who I'll call Tom in order to protect his identity, the story may have faded from the headlines but it's far from over for him.
Tom reached out to ZDNet after receiving an email from an impact-team. Titled "Action required regarding recent security breach," the email said:. The email then went on to include records of Tom's Ashley Madison subscription, dates, and money spent.
If Tom complied and bowed to the blackmail, his account information would apparently be removed and would not be available on a "publicly searchable website" the attackers allegedly are going to launch in the coming weeks.
