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ARTICLE · 27 JULY 2015

Ashley Madison Cyber-Attack

Wedlake Bell LLP
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The Ashley Madison hacking scandal is likely to have far-reaching consequences for the site's reported 37 million users around the world.

United KingdomPrivacy
James Castro-Edwards
James Castro-Edwards

The Ashley Madison hacking scandal is likely to have far-reaching consequences for the site's reported 37 million users around the world. News reports suggest that in the UK over a million cheating partners and spouses could be affected.

The attack is reported to involve highly sensitive information, including details of users' sexual fantasies and explicit photographs, as well as name and address details, credit card numbers and purchase histories. A small percentage of site users' personal information is reported to have been posted online.

A group calling itself the Impact Team has claimed responsibility for the attack and alleges that information which users had instructed Ashley Madison to delete had not in fact been deleted despite users having paid a fee of $19. Commentators have suggested that the sensitive information may be sold on the 'dark web' and potentially used for cyber-extortion.

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