The cyberattack on Canadian-owned dating website AshleyMadison.com has technology experts questioning whether the website's business model has a future.
The AshleyMadison.com dating website for married people seeking an affair announced on Monday that it was the victim of a cyberattack. Hackers calling themselves the Impact Team said they had "taken over all systems."
In a statement posted on AshleyMadison.com and grabbed by KrebsOnSecurity.com in a screenshot, the group said they would release customer information ranging from financial records to sexual preferences if Avid Life Media websites AshleyMadison.com and EstablishedMen.com did not shut down. AshleyMadison.com claims to have more than 37 million anonymous users from around the world.
The company has since said that it has taken down Impact Team’s posts and personally identifiable information, and are investigating the incident with law enforcement. They are also working with IT security expert Joel Eriksson of cyber-security firm Cycura to ensure client confidence, the company said in a statement.
"I have worked with leading companies around the world to secure their businesses," Eriksson said. "I have no doubt, based on the work I and my company are doing, Avid Life Media will continue to be a strong, secure business."
But with the company's stock about to go public, technology analyst Carmi Levy told CTV News Channel that he questions whether the site and even its business model can withstand the blow.
"If customers don't believe that their names, their credit card information, that any identifying data on them is going to be kept under safe lock and key, they're not going to do business with them anymore," Levy said. "If they don't recover from this, they could disappear."
Levy believes timing the attack so close to its stock market debut was deliberate, and that attackers sought out personal information to destroy the company's credibility as a safe place for infidelity.
"That's the worst possible damage that you can do to Ashley Madison," he said.
But even if the hack brought down AshleyMadison.com and other similar sites, relationship expert and psychotherapist Nicole McCance said that she doesn't believe it will end cheating altogether.
"Affairs were happening way before the internet, way before this website," McCance said. She recommends that anyone on the website should take this opportunity to come clean.
"I think this is a blessing in disguise," she said. "When you go home tonight, it's time to tell the truth."
The attack on AshleyMadison.com is one of a number of recent cyberattacks on major organizations' websites in the last few months, including the RCMP, CSIS and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
With files from The Canadian Press
