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Ashley Madison under attack

July 20, 2015

The controversial website has confirmed a serious attack on its systems. Hackers said they'd reveal customers' sensitive data unless some sex and dating portals were shut down.

https://p.dw.com/p/1G1TY
Letters L O V E on a keyboard
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Hackers have threatened to reveal data about users of Ashley Madison, an internet portal that purports to facilitate extramarital affairs among its members.

Parent company Avid Life Media said Monday it had registered a breach on its IT systems, but had since secured its site and was working with law enforcement agencies in a bid to trace those behind the attack.

Hackers had claimed to have got hold of sensitive personal details of more than 37 million cheating spouses on the Toronto-based dating website and threatened to release nude photos and clients' fantasies unless the portal was shut down, according to the famed KrebsOnSecurity blog.

The hackers call themselves "The Impact Team" and have already leaked snippets of the compromised data online. They warned they would not stop short of publishing customers' real names, profiles and credit card details, if their demands were not met.

Deterring effect

The attackers also demanded the closure of another of Avid Life Media's sites, sugar-daddy site "Established Men."

"Shutting down Ashley Madison and Established Men will cost you, but non-compliance will cost you more," the hackers said in an online message to the site operators.

In Love with Virtual Partners

They appeared especially angry at Avid Life charging customers to have their personal data permanently deleted, saying the company had just lied to its clients while retaining records, including credit card information.

hg/sgb (Reuters, dpa)