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 Hackers dumped a big cache of data containing millions of email
addresses for U.S. government officials, UK civil servants and
high-level executives at European and North America corporations
late on Tuesday, the latest cyber attack to raise concerns about
Internet security and data protection.
The hacker attack has been a big blow to Toronto-based assignation
website firm Avid Life Media, which owns Ashley Madison and has
indefinitely postponed the adultery site's IPO plans. But many
professions stand to benefit from the unfolding saga, from lawyers
to therapists to cyber security firms.
Prominent divorce lawyer Raoul Felder said the release is the best
thing to happen to his profession since the seventh Commandment
forbade adultery in the Bible.
"I've never had anything like this before," he said.
The data dump began to make good on the hackers' threat last month
to leak nude photos, sexual fantasies, real names and credit card
information for as many as 37 million customers worldwide of Ashley
Madison, which uses the slogan: "Life is short. Have an affair."
 The public embarrassment and emotional toll is likely to be enormous
on unsuspecting people whose extra-marital affairs may have been
exposed on the web or even whose emails were used without their
knowledge to sign up for the site.
"These poor people will be dealing with it in such a public way. It
will be absolutely devastating," said Michele Weiner Davis, marriage
therapist in Colorado and author of Divorce Busting.
For the partners or spouses, the initial shock will likely turn to
anger and then a deep feeling of hurt and betrayal, she said.
"It's no picnic for the unfaithful partner either."
Ashley Madison members would likely be best served by coming clean
instead of waiting to see if their indiscretion is discovered, said
Dr B. Janet Hibbs, a psychologist and couples therapist in
Philadelphia.
"Fall on your sword if you want to save your relationship," she
said. "Be prepared for them to ask a lot of questions, to not be
defensive, to be compassionate."
The data release could have severe consequences for U.S. service
members if found to be real. Several tech websites reported that
more than 15,000 email addresses were government and military ones.
Adultery, under certain criteria including the misuse of government
time and resources, is a crime in the U.S. armed forces and can lead
to dishonorable discharge or imprisonment.
IN HERE?
The hackers' move to identify members of the marital cheating
website appeared aimed at maximum damage to the company, which also
runs websites such as Cougarlife.com and EstablishedMen.com, causing
public embarrassment to its members, rather than financial gain.
"Find yourself in here?," said the group, which calls itself the
Impact Team, in a statement alongside the data dump.
"It was [Avid Life Media] 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."
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Twitter was abuzz, with "hack" trending in fourth place. Most
comments expressed horror that people's identities were exposed and
many were astonished people had apparently used their work emails to
sign up to the site.
It is not clear how many of the clients are legitimate - users do
not have to verify their email when they sign up.
The lists were dumped on the so-called dark web, which is only
accessible using a specialized browser, but the database was being
decrypted and made more widely available.
Hundreds of the email addresses that were listed online were linked
to Harvard and Yale, but the Ivy League universities did not respond
to requests for comment if they were providing any support or
counseling to the people exposed.
A British parliamentarian whose email address was included on the
list said it had been stolen and used without her knowledge, adding
weight to the argument that inclusion does not necessarily implicate
individuals.
Still, the privacy intrusion has likely given people a jolt, making
them question the data they have stored on the Internet.
The financial impact for clients will be less of a factor compared
with previous, bigger breaches - Ashley Madison said on Wednesday
that current or past members' full credit card numbers were not
stolen and the company has not stored members' full numbers.
SEVERE BLOW
For Avid Life Media, questions remained about whether more data will
be released and how its business can go on while the U.S. Federal
Bureau of Investigation and Canadian police investigate what the
company believes was an inside job.
Lawyers speculated whether any aggrieved members would launch legal
action against the company, which claims to be the world's
second-largest dating website behind Match.com, owned by
IAC/InterActive Corp.
Avid Life values itself at $1 billion and reported revenue of $115
million in 2014, up 45 percent from the preceding year.
"It's a pretty severe blow," said a banker familiar with the
company, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the topic.
"If any business needed privacy, it would be them. Now they've lost
it."
(Additional reporting by John Tilak; Editing by Peter Galloway,
Christian Plumb and Ken Wills)
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