'Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal': How scandal-ridden website weathered the storm
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal', the documentary series centered on the infamous data breach of the dating site Ashley Madison, is set to premiere on Netflix on Wednesday, May 15, 2024.
The official trailer for 'Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies, & Scandal' portrays individuals who have been unfaithful in their marriages, reflecting on what led to the collapse of their relationships.
The official synopsis of the series reads, "When a dating site for people seeking adulterous affairs is hacked, millions of users' intimate data is exposed, wrecking marriages and destroying lives."
The docuseries has been generating a buzz, particularly due to its focus on the Ashley Madison data breach scandal. It explores the aftermath of the breach and its impact on people, relationships, and privacy.
What was the Ashley Madison data breach controversy?
The dating site Ashley Madison was initially created and founded in 2001 by Darren J Morgenstern and Noel Biderman. Subsequently, the site gained immense attention for its controversial focus on facilitating extramarital affairs, leading to significant public interest and scrutiny.
Biderman also served as the CEO of Ashley Madison. While the application was initially successful for many years, a data breach in 2015 drastically changed everything for Ashley Madison.
The breach resulted in the exposure of sensitive user data, including personal information and email addresses, which had severe consequences.
In July 2015, a group known as 'The Impact Team' garnered attention as they had effectively hacked user data from the dating platform Ashley Madison, as reported by Wired.
The hackers initially released sensitive information about 2,500 users. This data included personal details, such as names, email addresses, and credit card numbers.
On August 18, 2015, the hackers escalated their attack by releasing a much larger cache of data, totaling approximately 60 GB. This data dump reportedly included account details and log-ins for approximately 32 million users of the site.
The data breach exposed a vast amount of personal information, including usernames, passwords, email addresses, and other account details of the users.
The scandal also exposed sensitive financial information of Ashley Madison users, including seven years' worth of credit card and other payment transaction details.
The hackers demanded that Ashley Madison and its affiliated site, Established Men, shut down permanently. This demand was accompanied by a threat to release all user records, including profiles with all the customers' secret sexual fantasies and credit card transactions.
The hackers said that Ashley Madison had deceived its customers regarding a service that promised to erase their profile information for a fee. They claimed that the company's representations about this service were false, leading to their demand for the permanent shutdown of Ashley Madison and Established Men.
According to a report by BBC, the hackers released the data through a server that provided only basic web and text data, making it difficult to trace and investigate the source of the leak.
Is Ashley Madison dating site still active?
The dating site was initially owned by Avid Life Media, a company that later underwent a rebranding process and emerged as Ruby Corporation, which is the current owner of the site.
In 2017, Ruby Corporation settled around two dozen lawsuits related to the data breach, agreeing to pay a total of $11.2 million.
Ashley Madison is still an active dating site. Despite facing a significant data breach in 2015, the website has continued to operate and provide its services to users seeking extra-marital affairs.
The platform has implemented enhanced security measures to protect user data and privacy, aiming to regain trust and maintain its position as a leading platform for individuals seeking extramarital affairs.
Rather than using a subscription model, Ashley Madison has chosen to implement a credit system. Male users on the platform are required to purchase credits in order to engage with other female users.
Registering for Ashley Madison is completely free, and users are not required to provide credit card information. Additionally, there is no need to use a real name or address when signing up. Some users choose not to upload a profile picture.
How to stream 'Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal'?
All episodes of 'Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal' will be available for streaming on Netflix from Wednesday, May 15, 2024.
Don't have Netflix subscription? Worry not!
Netflix offers several subscription plans with various features and prices. The basic plan, which includes commercials, is priced at $6.99 per month.
The regular plan, which does not include advertisements, is priced at $15.49 per month. The premium plan, which offers additional features such as access to ultra-high-definition content, is priced at $22.99 per month.
'Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal' trailer