If you haven’t heard the news by now, on August 18, a group of hackers going by the name of Impact Team released a treasure trove of personal data—nearly 35 gigabytes of text—gleaned from the most famous name in adultery: Ashley Madison.
Millions of users across the country, from the East Coast to Salt Lake City, have suddenly and spectacularly been exposed. Is it too late to sign up for marriage counseling? As it turns out, however, that might not be necessary.
The online dating service, marketed to people who are currently in a committed relationship or marriage (its slogan: “Life is short. Have an affair.”), was apparently targeted by hackers as a sort of vigilante justice move. The hacking group apparently sought to condemn Ashley Madison for charging users a fee to delete their message history and retaining consumers’ data after they leave, in addition to facilitating adulterous behavior.
The massive data leaks includes everything from names, passwords, addresses and phone numbers to credit card information, dating back all the way to 2008. However, it’s nearly impossible to tell how much of this information is legitimate (123 Fake St, Salt Lake City, Utah?). Free accounts did not require any verification, even for email addresses, and it’s estimated that nearly 95 percent of all female accounts were fake to begin with.
So chances are if your husband attempted to commit adultery, he probably wasn’t successful. That being said, it still might be worth a trip to marriage counseling, nonetheless.
While the Ashley Madison data breach provides everyone from Salt Lake City to Dubai with a huge database of information of questionable morality and dubious integrity, at least some of the data has been put to some intriguing analysis.
Wondering where the highest percentage of cheaters reside? To the surprise of absolutely no one, it’s our illustrious nation’s capital, Washington D.C. So much for family values; these guys need counseling. Ashley Madison users were concentrated in the Northeast, with the intriguing result of Utah coming in at number 11 for users per total state population—here’s to looking at you, Salt Lake City legislature.
While the massive amounts of data from Ashley Madison make for some fascinating analysis, it may not be the end of the world for users who have had their email addresses exposed.
Does having signed up for Ashley Madison necessarily denote cheating? It depends on the couple. If you or your spouse has been caught on Ashley Madison, it can’t hurt to invest in some marriage counseling for you and your partner. Until then, might want to stay off of Ashley Madison.
Natalie Benoy is a relationship writer reporter for Fusion 360, an SEO and content marketing agency. Information provided by Swinton Counseling.
Millions of users across the country, from the East Coast to Salt Lake City, have suddenly and spectacularly been exposed. Is it too late to sign up for marriage counseling? As it turns out, however, that might not be necessary.
The online dating service, marketed to people who are currently in a committed relationship or marriage (its slogan: “Life is short. Have an affair.”), was apparently targeted by hackers as a sort of vigilante justice move. The hacking group apparently sought to condemn Ashley Madison for charging users a fee to delete their message history and retaining consumers’ data after they leave, in addition to facilitating adulterous behavior.
The massive data leaks includes everything from names, passwords, addresses and phone numbers to credit card information, dating back all the way to 2008. However, it’s nearly impossible to tell how much of this information is legitimate (123 Fake St, Salt Lake City, Utah?). Free accounts did not require any verification, even for email addresses, and it’s estimated that nearly 95 percent of all female accounts were fake to begin with.
So chances are if your husband attempted to commit adultery, he probably wasn’t successful. That being said, it still might be worth a trip to marriage counseling, nonetheless.
While the Ashley Madison data breach provides everyone from Salt Lake City to Dubai with a huge database of information of questionable morality and dubious integrity, at least some of the data has been put to some intriguing analysis.
Wondering where the highest percentage of cheaters reside? To the surprise of absolutely no one, it’s our illustrious nation’s capital, Washington D.C. So much for family values; these guys need counseling. Ashley Madison users were concentrated in the Northeast, with the intriguing result of Utah coming in at number 11 for users per total state population—here’s to looking at you, Salt Lake City legislature.
While the massive amounts of data from Ashley Madison make for some fascinating analysis, it may not be the end of the world for users who have had their email addresses exposed.
Does having signed up for Ashley Madison necessarily denote cheating? It depends on the couple. If you or your spouse has been caught on Ashley Madison, it can’t hurt to invest in some marriage counseling for you and your partner. Until then, might want to stay off of Ashley Madison.
Natalie Benoy is a relationship writer reporter for Fusion 360, an SEO and content marketing agency. Information provided by Swinton Counseling.