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Hackers dump data from cheating website Ashley Madison online: reports

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Hackers have followed through on a threat to release online a 
huge cache of data, including customer information, that was 
stolen a month ago from cheating spouses website 
AshleyMadison.com, several tech websites reported on Tuesday.

Reuters was not immediately able to confirm the authenticity of 
the posting. The data was posted onto the dark web, meaning it 
is only accessible using a specialized browser, although vast 
lists of hundreds of email addresses including many linked to 
corporations and universities sprouted up on other sites hours 
after the news broke.

The hackers, who call themselves The Impact Team, leaked 
snippets of the compromised data in July and threatened to 
publish names and salacious details of as many as 37 million 
customers unless Ashley Madison and EstablishedMen.com, another 
site owned by Toronto-based parent company Avid Life Media, were 
taken down.

While other higher-profile attacks such as those on big 
companies, like Sony Pictures Entertainment and Target, have 
seen credit card data of customers stolen, this attack appeared 
to confirm that the hackers were not driven by blackmail or 
commercial motives, but rather ideological ones.

Identifying customers on Ashley Madison, which uses the slogan 
"Life is short. Have an affair," could have far-reaching 
consequences for individual people.

"These guys want as much notoriety as possible. This isn't cyber 
terrorism. It's cyber vigilantism," said Ajay K. Sood, General 
Manager for Canada of cyber security firm FireEye Inc.

Police and intelligence sources have said it appeared to be an 
inside job.

Still the dump was massive, according to Troy Hunt, a Microsoft 
security expert, who said more than 1 million unique email 
addresses were attached to payment records.

Tech website Wired said 9.7 gigabytes of data was posted, and 
appeared to include member account and credit card details.

"Avid Life Media has failed to take down Ashley Madison and 
Established Men," Wired quoted Impact Team as saying in a 
statement accompanying the online dump.

"We have explained the fraud, deceit, and stupidity of ALM (Avid 
Life Media) and their members. Now everyone gets to see their 
data," the hackers said, according to Wired.

Avid Life, did not immediately respond to emails and phone calls 
seeking comment.

Toronto-based cybersecurity firm Cycura, which was hired by Avid 
Life to investigate the attack, said it was not authorized to 
speak on the matter.

(Reporting by Alastair Sharp and Josephine Mason; Editing by 
Alan Crosby)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/19/us-ashleymadison-
cybersecurity-idUSKCN0QN2BN20150819

   

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Hackers dump data from cheating website Ashley Madison online: reports "Lolololol!" <lololol@divorces.com> - 2015-08-26 16:07 +0200

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