Online cheating website AshleyMadison.com has been hacked putting private info of about 37 million users at risk. The hacking of the site that advertises itself as "Life is short. Have an affair," comes within a couple of months after AdultFriendFinder, another adult dating website with an estimated 64 million members, was breached.
The hackers claim to have taken control over the entire system of Avid Life Media (ALM), the Canada-based company that owns and operates AshleyMadison as well as related sites such as Cougar Life and Established Men.
The hackers, who identify themselves as 'The Impact Team' have threatened to release "all customer records, profiles with all the customers' secret fantasies, nude pictures, and conversations and matching credit card transactions, real names and addresses, and employee documents and emails." They demand that ALM shuts down AshleyMadison.com and Established Men, which the hackers describe as "a prostitution/human trafficking website for rich men to pay for sex."
The hackers however did not target the company's CougarLife site, which caters for women members looking for "a young stud".
"Shutting down AM (Ashley Madison) and EM (Established Men) will cost you, but non-compliance will cost you more," the hackers said. They said users who had paid a fee to Avid Life to have their personal data permanently deleted had been lied to and the company had retained records, including credit card information.
ALM has meanwhile confirmed the hack, however the full extent of the damage done is still unknown.
AshleyMadison has been planning to raise up to $200 million through an intial public offering on the London Stock Exchange.
Comments
0 comment