Ashley Madison Website May Have Been Compromised (Pun Intended)

Impact Team, the hacking group that recently made headlines by reportedly absconding with the personal data of some 37 million customers of Ashley Madison, the notorious website that facilitates affairs, has now claimed they have made good on previous threats to release the information. On Tuesday, the group dumped 9.7 GB worth of data onto the ‘Dark Web’, a unique corner of the internet only accessible using special browsers and routers. The data released is claimed to include account details and log-ins as well as credit card and payment transaction details, reportedly pulled from Ashley Madison’s servers.

Independent security experts began to weigh in on immediately on Wednesday, with many confirming that the Ashley Madison website data, which had been hacked in mid-July, had in fact been released, while others deny the group’s boast is real. Experts disagreeing about whether or not this breach is real is nothing new. Company-related sources have been quoted as claiming that these dumps are entirely fake, citing evidence that Ashley Madison had never stored credit card information, which reportedly is present in the latest leak. But independent experts are also saying it is common for an organization to deny the legitimacy of a data breach, claiming it appears that recently some Ashley Madison website users may have been reporting that their data is turning up in the wrong places.

There may be a question of the actual value of the Ashley Madison data, since by its very nature, the site would surely have a large cache of false or misrepresented data. But one can feel the collective holding-of-breaths and large quantities of perspiration released into the atmosphere, as Ashley Madison’s users wait to find out if their data has truly put them in a compromising position (there I go again; sorry).

With elections on the horizon, this could possibly generate a Weiner-esque exposure (sorry, I can’t stop), not to mention the potential fallout on ordinary sinners. Meanwhile, as the number of preemptive back massages and bouquets of flowers begins to proliferate, it probably won’t be long until we find out the truth behind the whole affair (sorry, I’m done now).