Ashley Madison Users Details Hacked News: Two suicides may be linked to hacking incident - police
At least two suicides may be linked to the hacking of cheating website Ashley Madison, Toronto police announced on Monday.
The hacking incident exposed the personal information of millions of Ashley Madison subscribers. Toronto authorities have issued a warning against possible scams and extortion of the site's users who desperately want to keep their infidelity under wraps, according to Reuters.
In the wake of these incidents, Ashley Madison's parent company Avid Life Media Inc. has offered a reward of C$500,000 ($379,132) to anyone who could catch the hackers.
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During a news conference on Monday, Toronto Police Acting Staff Superintendent Bryce Evans said the attack on the cheating website triggered attempts to extort money from the exposed Ashley Madison users. Two individuals are believed to have committed suicide after the hack, the report relays.
The compromised data includes email addresses of high-profile individuals in the U.S. government, UK civil service, and European and North American firms. After the attack, concerns over Internet and data security have risen considerably.
The hacking of the Ashley Madison website has given birth to scams involving protection of client's data for a given fee. Evans said there have also been attempts to extort money from the users with threats of exposing their extramarital affairs to friends and families, The Australian reports.
Evans warned the "Impact Team" hackers that their actions will not go unpunished. In a statement addressing the hacking community participating in "dark web" discussions, the police superintendent appealed to them to do what is right and give the police useful information.
So far, there is limited available information about the reported suicides. Police said the suicide information is still unconfirmed, but Evans conveyed his concern about the effect of the hacking on families, especially on children.
Ashley Madison is a website launched in 2001 to facilitate extramarital affairs. The site, which is owned by Avid Life Media, bears the slogan "Life is short. Have an affair" on its homepage.
