Ashley Madison Data Hack 'Done For Profit'

A hacking insider has told Sky News he thinks the people threatening to release personal details of users of an adultery website are bluffing and using the publicity as advertising to sell the data to the highest bidder.

Hackers calling themselves Impact Team have stolen and leaked data from some of the Ashley Madison website's 37 million users and are threatening to publish more.

For now the group has released just 40MB of data, including some credit card details and several documents about its parent company Avid Life Media (ALM), it is reported.

But the group says it is prepared to release all customer records, including the "secret sexual fantasies" of members, unless the site is closed.

The hackers' main issue with the adultery site seems to be a leavers' fee that the company charges users.

However, an insider who is well connected in the hacking community says he thinks Impact Team may have been paid to steal the details and that they are ‘just bluffing’ about releasing the data.

"Vinnie" told Sky News: "They claim that they are going to give all the information out, especially credit card details and all the other 'links' and the 'hashes'.

"I don’t think they're going to release them. They have a better chance of selling on to someone else or to a 'Blackhat Market' on the 'Deep Web'. They’ll profit from this in a big way, especially with the size of this database."

Vinnie said the hacking community he is connected to is impressed at the scale of this attack but that the group claiming responsibility is unlikely to be able to pull off anything on this scale again.

He believes the threat to publish details is simply a publicity stunt to get buyers interested in the huge amount of credit card details that will soon be up for sale online in batches of 100 - 1 million.

The group has also compromised two other dating sites; Cougar Life and Established Men. These sites are also owned by ALM.

The hackers said in a statement: "Avid Life Media has been instructed to take Ashley Madison and Established Men offline permanently in all forms, or we will release all customer records, including profiles with all the customers' secret sexual fantasies and matching credit card transactions, real names and addresses, and employee documents and emails.

"The other websites may stay online."

In their own statement, ALM said: "We apologise for this unprovoked and criminal intrusion into our customers' information.

"The current business world has proven to be one in which no company's online assets are safe from cyber-vandalism, with Avid Life Media being only the latest among many companies to have been attacked, despite investing in the latest privacy and security technologies.

"At this time, we have been able to secure our sites, and close the unauthorised access points. We are working with law enforcement agencies, which are investigating this criminal act.

"Any and all parties responsible for this act of cyber-terrorism will be held responsible."