Hackers expose up to 32mn unfaithful worldwide

Names ... everything

LONDON, Aug 19, (Agencies): Hackers say they have exposed unfaithful partners across the world, posting what they said were the personal details of millions of people registered with cheating website Ashley Madison.

A message posted by the hackers alongside their massive trove accused Ashley Madison’s owners of deceit and incompetence and said the company had refused to bow to their demands to close the site. “Now everyone gets to see their data,” the statement said. Ashley Madison has long courted attention with its claim to be the Internet’s leading facilitator of extramarital liaisons, boasting of having nearly 39 million members and that “thousands of cheating wives and cheating husbands sign up every day looking for an affair.”

Its owner, Toronto-based Avid Life Media Inc., has previously acknowledged suffering an electronic break-in and said in a statement Tuesday it was investigating the hackers’ claim. US and Canadian law enforcement are involved in the probe, the company said.

Security experts said Wednesday the files on some 32 million members of the website appeared to be genuine.

Ashley Madison parent company Avid Life Media called the leak “an act of criminality” and urged anyone with information about the hackers to step forward to help law enforcement.

The Associated Press wasn’t immediately able to determine the authenticity of the leaked files, although many analysts who have scanned the data believe it is genuine.

TrustedSec Chief Executive Dave Kennedy said the information dump included full names, passwords, street addresses, credit card information and “an extensive amount of internal data.” In a separate blog, Errata Security Chief Executive Rob Graham said the information released included details such as users’ height, weight and GPS coordinates. He said men outnumbered women on the service five-to-one.

Avid Life Media declined to comment Wednesday beyond its statement. The hackers also didn’t immediately return emails.

The prospect of millions of adulterous partners being publicly shamed drew widespread attention but the sheer size of the database — and the technical savvy needed to navigate it — means it’s unlikely to lead to an immediate rush to divorce courts.