'Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal': Inside the infamous Ashley Madison data breach scandal
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal', a gripping docuseries that delves into the dark world of cybercrime, is scheduled to premiere on Netflix on Wednesday, May 15, 2024.
The series revolves around the infamous Ashley Madison website hack, offering viewers a compelling and insightful look into the complexities of modern cybercrime.
The three-part series, directed by Toby Paton and produced by Minnow Films, delves deeply into the lives of Ashley Madison's users to explore the full impact of the data breach.
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."
What is Ashley Madison?
Ashley Madison is a dating website renowned for facilitating extramarital affairs. The platform, founded in 2001 by Darren J Morgenstern and Noel Biderman, operates on the premise of married individuals engaging in affairs with strangers they meet through the site.
Biderman, in addition to being one of the founders of Ashley Madison, also assumed the role of the company's CEO. While the application was initially successful for years, gaining popularity among individuals seeking extramarital affairs, its success was not without controversy.
The platform faced criticism and legal challenges due to its nature and the ethical concerns surrounding facilitating infidelity. Ashley Madison, however, announced that its membership base had crossed the 60 million mark in 2017.
Ashley Madison continues to operate as a prominent platform for individuals seeking extramarital affairs, maintaining a significant user base globally.
Inside the Ashley Madison data breach scandal that rocked the online dating world
In July 2015, a group calling themselves 'The Impact Team' made headlines by claiming they had successfully obtained user data from the dating site Ashley Madison.
The group also threatened to leak personal information about the website's clients if Ashley Madison was not permanently shut down. This incident raised significant concerns about online privacy and security.
The hackers underscored the gravity of their threat by releasing sensitive information pertaining to approximately 2,500 users. This event caused widespread chaos among Ashley Madison users, resulting in the destruction of many marriages.
On August 18, 2015, the group followed through on their threat by releasing approximately 60 GB of data, as reported by Wired. This massive data dump included a lot of sensitive information, such as user profiles, private messages, and financial transactions.
At the time of the hack, as revealed in the documentary, Ashley Madison boasted a user base of 37 million individuals. The hack, which exposed the personal information of millions of users, had a significant impact on them.
According to Wired, the leaked files contained account details and login information for around 32 million users. The data dump also included seven years' worth of credit card and other payment transaction details, as well as sensitive photos.
The hackers demanded the permanent shutdown of Ashley Madison and its affiliated site Established Men. They wrote in a statement, "Avid Life Media has been instructed to take Ashley Madison and Established Men offline permanently in all forms, or we will release all customer records, including profiles with all the customers’ secret sexual fantasies and matching credit card transactions, real names and addresses, and employee documents and emails."
According to a report by BBC, the hackers released the data through a server that only offered basic web and text data, which made it challenging to trace and investigate the source of the leak.
Who was responsible for hacking Ashley Madison?
William Brewster Harrison, who had a history of harassment towards Biderman, was initially considered the prime suspect in the Ashley Madison hack.
He was hired in Ashley Madison in March 2010 and was involved in creating and managing fake female accounts on Ashley Madison, as reported by Krebs on Security.
Harrison allegedly harassed the anti-Ashley Madison website 'Ashleymadisonsucks.com', trying to persuade them to sell the domain to Ashley Madison.
Before joining the company, Harrison had faced several misdemeanor charges, such as trespassing, unlawful entry, public intoxication, and making obscene phone calls.
In 2011, he was fired from his job. In 2012, Harrison used a caller ID spoofing service to call the company's former Director of Human Resources, making it seem like the call came from within the building. All signs suggested Harrison might be the hacker behind the site.
However, it was later discovered that Harrison had died on March 5, 2014, almost 16 months before The Impact Team claimed responsibility for hacking Ashley Madison. This revelation ruled him out as a possible suspect in the hack.
'Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal' will delve deep into the events surrounding the hack, exploring the motivations of the hackers and the impact of the breach on millions of users. Through interviews, reenactments, and expert analysis, the series will uncover the secrets behind Ashley Madison's rise and fall.
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.
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'Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal' trailer