Online dating service for adulterers Ashley Madison has been hacked by a group.
Ashley Madison is an online dating service marketed to people who are already in a relationship. The site is said to have over 37 million registered users.
According to the Techcrunch.com, the hackers claim to have gained full access to the site's database and other records.
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According to security expert Brian Krebs, the attackers, who call themselves The Impact Team, published a range of random user data that they claim to have snatched from ALM, the parent company of Ashley Madison. They also appear to have gotten access to company servers and employee information that includes details such as company bank account information and salaries.
The Impact Team is threatening to release the full data unless Ashley Madison is shut down
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Also, they made a claim that 'Full Delete', a feature that wipes a user's data from ALM's servers for a one-off USD 19 fee, is not what the company claims it is. The group stated that customer information including contact details and credit card numbers is still on the servers despite paying for the wipe.
ALM said in an announcement that it has launched a thorough investigation after it was made aware of an attempt by an unauthorized party to gain access to their systems.
The company also said that at that time they have been able to secure their sites and close the unauthorized access points. They 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.