Customer details on infidelity website Ashley Madison leaked
Hackers have reportedly made good on their threat of exposing customer data that they had stolen from the Ashley Madison website.
Ashley Madison encourages married people to have affairs by promising to hook them up with other like-minded individuals.
According to BBC News, the hackers, who call themselves The Impact Team, have just published the details of Ashley Madison users on the dark web, which is only accessible by encrypted browsers.
Ashley Madison operates in 50 countries and has around 37 million users.
TIME reported that this information included names, addresses and even credit card transaction records of 32 million customers, which was stolen last month.
And what do the hackers want in order for them to take down this private data?
For Ashley Madison to shut down their website.
A total of 9.7 gigabytes of data has been posted with the Impact Team claiming that they have also managed to get their hands on the details of those who had previously deleted their accounts off Ashley Madison.
'SITE IS A SCAM'
According to Mail Online, it seems that the hackers are more interested in exposing unfaithful men.
Apart from their request for Ashley Madison to get taken down, they also made the same request for Established Men, a website that "connects young, beautiful women with successful men".
The Impact Team also stole customer details for Cougar Life, a website for older women who want to date younger men, but did not ask for the site to be taken down.
Wrote the Impact Team in a statement: "'We have explained the fraud, deceit, and stupidity of Ashley Madison and their members. Now everyone gets to see their data.
"Keep in mind the site is a scam with thousands of fake female profiles.
"'Chances are your man signed up on the world's biggest affair site, but never had one. He just tried to. If that distinction matters."
To the married men who had intention to cheat, they had this to say:
"Find yourself in here (Ashley Madison)? It was Ashley Madison that failed you and lied to you. Prosecute them and claim damages.
"Then move on with your life. Learn your lesson and make amends.
"Embarrassing now, but you'll get over it."
The company behind Ashley Madison, the Canada-based Avid Life Media said in its statement that that the individuals responsible for this attack have committed a crime and it is co-operating fully with law enforcement to find the Impact Team.
The statement said: "The criminal, or criminals, involved in this act have appointed themselves as the moral judge, juror, and executioner, seeing fit to impose a personal notion of virtue on all of society.
"We will not sit idly by and allow these thieves to force their personal ideology on citizens around the world."
Source: BBC News, Mail Online, TIME
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