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 "Don't do or say anything you wouldn't want to read about on the
front page of the New York Times," said the founder of Hustler
magazine and owner of businesses that sell sexually explicit videos
online.
It might be too late for many people who, lured by a supposed cloak
of digital anonymity, have shared their innermost wishes, fetishes
and fantasies on hook-up and porn sites. And those companies know
that their digital troves of secrets are exactly what make them a
target for emboldened hackers.
In exposing the Ashley Madison accounts of as many as 37 million
users, hackers released a cache of potentially embarrassing and
damaging data. The dump contained email addresses for U.S.
government officials, UK civil servants, and workers at European and
North American corporations, taking already deep-seated fears about
Internet security and data protection to a new level.
"This represents a scary precedent" because of the scope and depth
of intrusion into people's private lives, said Ajay Sood, Canada
general manager at cyber security company FireEye/Mandiant. "Ashley
Madison wasn't the first, but it's the one."
The data dump made good on the hackers' threat last month to leak
customers' nude photos, sexual fantasies, names and credit card
information from the Canadian website with the slogan, "Life is
short. Have an affair."
The hackers, who have not been identified, appear to bear a grudge
against the company and want to undermine it by exposing users to
public scrutiny.
The prospect of attacks by non-financially driven hackers pursuing
publicity, blackmail or moral judgments sends shivers through the
online dating and sex industry.
Reports that blackmailers armed with the data dump are contacting
Ashley Madison members for extortion will reinforce concerns. For
the online adult entertainment segment, which accounts for more than
10 percent of Internet traffic, the trend is particularly worrisome.
"I don't know anyone that's prepared for something like this," said
Joanna Angel, a famous punk porn entrepreneur who owns and sells
adult films on the website Burning Angel.
'TRADE IN SECRETS'
The online sex industry has long been aware it is more vulnerable to
a cyber attack than most companies because some people find it
offensive. It also thrives on ensuring privacy.
As a result, it has toughened up its defenses over the years, as
global retailers and health insurers have fallen victims to hackers.
The problem is, security experts say, there is very little else they
can do to keep hackers out.
"There are always extra layers of security," said Diane Duke, chief
executive officer of the Free Speech Coalition, the trade
association for the adult entertainment industry. "However, you
build a widget; someone breaks it."
Angel, 34, who has starred in and directed hundreds of films,
believes she has robust security on her website, but worries it may
not be enough to ward off ever-more sophisticated hackers.
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She hired outside experts to run her online security after hackers
shut her site down for five days, costing her money and,
temporarily, customers.
Angel said the Ashley Madison affair and release of people's names
might curb customers' willingness to disclose personal information,
although she had not seen any evidence of this.
"It could end up affecting a company like mine," she said. "It will
make people more paranoid."
The Ashley Madison hack is the second high-profile attack on a
no-strings attached solicitation site this year. In March, Adult
FriendFinder was the victim of a massive data breach, with hackers
publishing details of 4 million subscribers on the Web.
Adult sites, among the first Internet companies to accept credit
card payment, tend to have robust security to combat fraud. But
their systems for securing non-financial client data are not as
strong, cyber experts said.
One large cyber security provider has seen an uptick in business
from companies that "trade in the secrets" of clients, an executive
said.
"It's hard for these types of companies to see what's going on and
not want to take a closer look at their security," said the
executive, who was not authorized to publicly discuss client
enquiries.
Many have already hired top-class security talent to keep tabs on
their websites, said Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at
Finland-based cyber security company F-Secure.
And users are probably getting wiser about using work email
addresses, posting risqué photos or divulging potentially
embarrassing information on dating sites, he added.
Flynt, who fought in the courts for freedom of speech, said anyone
surprised at the invasion of people's privacy is naive.
"Privacy no longer exists," he said, "and it hasn't for some time."
(Additional reporting by Jim Finkle in Boston; Editing by Amran
Abocar, Mary Milliken and Lisa Von Ahn)
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