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  • Ashley Madison Hack Might Have National Security Repercussions?

    The Ashley Madison hack could have repercussions that go far beyond the basic questions of security and privacy. While the breach of the company’s security measures reportedly did not reveal any credit card information, it has threatened to expose the secrets of many thousands of people.

    Back when Adult Friend Finder went through a similar situation as Ashley Madison in May, questions were raised about the implications such a breach could have even for national security.

    This kind of information is just the material that provided fodder for classic espionage efforts. When you have personal information, as well as specifics of sexual proclivities of a person, it makes it easier to have them at your mercy. A person found in those files to be in a sensitive position or even have low-level access to certain information could be vulnerable to foreign or even terrorist leveraging.

    Cybercrime expert Charlie McMurdie said that kind of information the Adult Friend Finder breach revealed could be especially difficult for those exposed. Might this also be the case with the Ashley Madison breach?

    “Where you’ve got names, dates of birth, ZIP codes, then that provides an opportunity to actually target specific individuals whether they be in government or healthcare for example, so you can profile that person and send more targeted blackmail-type emails.”

    Of course, there are questions about whether the Ashley Madison breach is even legit. A Christian website released the names of 5,000 adulterers found on the released list of Ashley Madison clients. But one person who checked the list out maintains that those names just might be fake.

    “I will say that I googled some of the less common names (or those I perceived to be more unique). Hardly any of the search results turned up actual people. I would think that those digitally savvy enough to go looking for an affair on a website would also likely have a Facebook account, twitter, instagram, LinkedIn, etc. 8 out of 10 turned up only around 4 pages of results, with many of them being the names of people deceased LONG ago.”

  • Ashley Madison Victims Are Discussing How To Handle Fallout

    Ashley Madison Victims Are Discussing How To Handle Fallout

    Ashley Madison users are nervous. When the famous infidelity website — with the motto “Life Is Short. Have An Affair” — was reportedly hacked. Thousands upon thousands of people had a very bad day. Questions were racing around the Internet, this time as anonymously as possible.

    What if my spouse finds out I had an Ashley Madison account, even if I never did anything else?

    What was hacked? Credit card info? Messages passed back and forth on the site? Just user names?

    Even people who have never used Ashley Madison at all were wondering what the hack might portend for society,

    What could be done with the data that was taken? Could it be used to compromise people in sensitive positions?

    The same sort of questions that the Ashley Madison hack raised were floated when Adult Friend Finder was hit back in May.

    While there have been lots of news stories about the hack of Ashley Madison, there have not been many suggestions for persons fearing for their privacy. The usual topics about watching out for phishing schemes and such — useful for any data breach — are common.

    But what if you know your life would be completely turned upside-down if your membership in Ashley Madison were found out? What suggestions are out there for you? Indeed, many seem to be snickering at the “just desserts” people who took Ashley Madison up on its offer are being threatened with getting.

    So these guys had to band together, gather what info they could, and come up with a plan. To that end, there was a “mega thread” started on Reddit, compiling as many of the smaller discussions that had sprung up as they could. Some of the observations and suggestions passed in those comments may prove to be useful or helpful to those worried about the Ashley Madison hack.

    One commenter heavily encouraged joining a class action suit against Avid, owners of Ashley Madison.

    I chatted with a great internet privacy lawyer, nationally known, who is taking my case. Engaging her Monday, so she will be in contact directly with AM corporate and legal. Fuck their customer service. I am going to sue the living sh*! out of Avid. This makes me feel alot better. I assume you all are in on this class action? I kid not, this is for real. This is the only power that we, the VICTIMS, have in this situation.

    Another suggested that, if the worst happens, everyone maintain a front of denying it still.

    Everyone needs to stop sweating. Even if it comes out there will be 1 and 10 people in North America on it. Lie. You’ve been lying all along and deny til the very end. Say the list is fake and trolls are using it for extortion. The list was manufactured from social media and your credit card number was stolen and you didn’t notice. Play this shit off til the very end. If you weren’t physically caught cheating it’s pretty hard to prove. Even your pictures can be stolen from social media. Unless of course messages come out and they are personal. Then you’re fucked. But until then enjoy everyday not being caught.

    But one of the most insightful responses to the Ashley Madison hack was the idea that fake name lists should be put out, including peppering such lists with viruses.

    The only way to stem the spread through normies, is if fake lists with malware/viruses are distributed. This will make most hesitate.

    If a legitimate list exists, having the static and overlap of many fake lists might mitigate the damage, make it deniable. If even viewing a list is seen as dangerous because of virus booby traps, then maybe few would even look at the lists.

  • Adult FriendFinder Breach Could Be a Matter of National Security

    AdultFriend Finder got hacked. And people are scared. This could be far bigger than The Fappening. In fact, there may be reason for our own government to be concerned about the sexual secrets of millions of people being at risk.

    The popular adult dating site was the target of a breach by a hacker who calls himself ROR[RG]. The alleged perpetrator claimed in an online hacker forum that he had loads of personal data on their customers, including past customers who thought they had deleted their accounts. He claims he blackmailed the company, demanding that they pay him $100,000 to keep the data private.

    The parent company of the Adult FriendFinder site said in a statement:

    “We have already begun working closely with law enforcement and have launched a comprehensive investigation with the help of leading third-party forensics expert,” the company said. “We cannot speculate further about this issue, but rest assured, we pledge to take the appropriate steps needed to protect our customers if they are affected.”

    Other hackers claim to be preparing to individually email the customers whose data has been stolen, promising to cut ROR[RG] in when they make any money.

    “i am loading these up in the mailer now / i will send you some dough from what it makes / thank you!!” wrote a hacker who calls himself MAPS.

    Cybercrime expert Charlie McMurdie said that kind of information this breach has revealed could be especially difficult for those exposed.

    “Where you’ve got names, dates of birth, ZIP codes, then that provides an opportunity to actually target specific individuals whether they be in government or healthcare for example, so you can profile that person and send more targeted blackmail-type emails.”

    This kind of information is just the material that provided fodder for classic espionage efforts. When you have personal information, as well as specifics of sexual proclivities of a person, it makes it easier to have them at your mercy. A person found in those files to be in a sensitive position or even have low-level access to certain information could be vulnerable to foreign or even terrorist leveraging.

    Some enterprising person has set up a website where you can check to see if your information was among the names breached. Then again, that site may do nothing but collect even more names and emails of people who are concerned that they might be exposed. That could be used to accuse them of having something to hide.

  • Dating Site Hack Exposes Users’ Sexual Preferences, Account Data

    Data breaches that reveal email address, usernames, passwords, and other account information are common and pretty serious in their own right – but when a hack reveals even more sensitive personal information it’s downright scary.

    According to a report from Channel4, a data breach has exposed nearly four million users of Adult FreindFinder, a dating website. you’ve probably seen its ads all over the internet.

    And alongside the usual account information, hackers reportedly leaked info like users’ sexual orientation and “which ones might be seeking extramarital affairs.”

    Yikes.

    “The stolen data reveals the sexual preferences of users, whether they’re gay or straight, and even indicates which ones might be seeking extramarital affairs. In addition, the hackers have revealed email addresses, usernames, dates of birth, postal codes and unique internet addresses of users’ computers,” reports Channel4.

    “Online crime experts believe the after the initial spam email campaign, hackers will now begin trawling through the data for potential blackmail targets. The spreadsheets contain addresses linked to dozens of government and armed services personnel, including members of the British Army.”

    Adult FriendFinder’s parent company confirmed the data breach in a statement to the BBC, but didn’t provide a lot of details:

    FriendFinder Networks Inc. has only just been made aware of this potential issue and understands and fully appreciates the seriousness of the issue,” the firm said in an emailed statement.

    We have already begun working closely with law enforcement and have launched a comprehensive investigation with the help of leading third-party forensics expert, Mandiant.

    Until the investigation is completed, it will be difficult to determine with certainty the full scope of the incident, but we will continue to work vigilantly to address this potential issue and will provide updates as we learn more from our investigation.

    We cannot speculate further about this issue, but rest assured, we pledge to take the appropriate steps needed to protect our customers if they are affected.

    There are reports that the hacker attempted to blackmail the site before publishing the data on the dark web. Apparently, Adult FriendFinder wasn’t too keen on that.