Ashley Madison hack: Data confirmed to be from infidelity site

Dataposted onlineTuesdayclaimingto contain thepersonaldetails of more than 37million users of the infidelitydating serviceAshley Madisonis from aJulyhack ofthe site, even thoughthe company will not confirm that, CBC News has learned.

Last month, a group calling itself The Impact Team said it had hacked theself-described infidelity dating serviceand threatened to release its customers' names online unlessAvid LifeMedia, the site's owners, shutit down.A message posted by the hackers accuses the companyofdeceit and incompetence, claiming that "the site is a scam with thousands of fake female profiles."

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On Tuesday, thegroup posted what appeared to be thecredit card numbers and other sensitive information of Ashley Madison's customers online.

Avid Life Media has not confirmed validity of the data, but ina statementTuesdayit was "actively monitoring and investigating this situation to determine the validity of anyinformation posted online."

However, sources have confirmed to CBC News that the data is from the July hack.

The data reportedly appeared first on the dark web, accessible only to people using a special browser, but has since apparently spread to more visible areas the internet.

Inside job

CarmiLevy, a Toronto-based technology analyst, toldCBC Radio's Metro Morning the hackhas "all the earmarks of an inside job" by a disgruntled former employee.

"They knew where to look in order to lift the entire database," Levy said. "This is not some kid working out of his or her mom's basement. The person had advanced knowledge in order to pull something like this off."

He says the incidentshould make usmore cautious about sharing information online.

"We willingly give away our information to pretty much anyone who asks for it online," he said. "We need to start controlling things a little more. We need to ask, 'Is this site trustworthy?' 'Do they have security protocols in place?' If it doesn't, don't share your information."

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Avid Life Mediacalled the release of the data "an act of criminality."

"It is an illegal action against the individual members of AshleyMadison.com, as well as any freethinking people who choose to engage in fully lawful online activities. The criminal, or criminals, involved in this act have appointed themselves as the moral judge, juror, and executioner, seeing fit to impose a personal notion of virtue on all of society," the company said.

"We will not sit idly by and allow these thieves to force their personal ideology on citizens around the world."