Two unconfirmed suicides may be attributed to the release of user information on the infidelity hookup site AshleyMadison.com, Toronto police said in a press conference Monday, according to the Globe and Mail.
Avid Life Media, the Toronto-based firm behind Ashley Madison, has offered $500,000 for information leading to the identification and prosecution of the hackers who divulged customer information.
Information about 30 million accounts has been released in three batches, and as I wrote about last week, has revealed government accounts, as well as accounts in the names of celebrities and politicians. The information has included credit card data.
In addition, police warned the public that in the wake of the breach, scammers have set up bogus websites that promise to find out if a user s data is leaked as a service, but really aim to extort money.
Bryce Evans, acting staff superintendent with the Toronto Police, asked for help from the hacking community to find The Impact Team, the name of those who have taken credit for the hack:
This hack is one of the largest data breaches in the world. The social impact behind this leak, we re talking about families, we re talking about children, we re talking about wives, we re talking about their male partners. It s going to have impacts on their lives…This is affecting all of us.
This ain t a funny game anymore, Evans said.
The Globe and Mail reports that two Canadian law firms have launched a class-action suit on behalf of Ashley Madison customers against Ashley Madison for failing to protect users information.
Above: Noel Biderman, chief executive of Avid Life Media, which operates AshleyMadison.com., posing during a photo session in Tokyo in 2014. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
