Hackers dubbing themselves The Impact Team claim they have the information of all users of the site AshleyMadison.com.
For those of you who might not know what this site is for — good for you — but let us explain.
It's a site for adultery. Yes, you heard that right. The site motto is: "Life is short. Have an affair."
The Impact Team threatened to release the data of Ashley Madison's 37 million users, should the site's parent company, Avid Life Media, not permanently close down the site.
The hackers are also calling for the shutdown of another website under the ALM umbrella — Established Men — which touts itself as a website "connecting young, beautiful women with successful men."
The Impact Team hacked AshleyMadison because ALM allegedly lied to its clients about a "full delete" feature the company claimed completely erases all account data for $19.
The hackers say that feature doesn't actually work, and allege that real names and addresses of users remain on servers even after a "full delete."
In a manifesto posted on the AshleyMadison homepage, hackers told ALM’s chief technology officer they are his “worst f---ing nightmare” – referencing a comment made saying how a system hack is the CTO's biggest fear.
The hack has reportedly been contained. A statement from ALM said, “At this time, we have been able to secure our sites, and close the unauthorized access points.”
A follow-up statement said all published user "Personally Identifiable Information" was removed. Phew. Carry on, cheaters.
AshleyMadison.com is the world’s second largest paid dating website, only trailing Match.com.
And aside from the ramifications of a data leak, this could affect the company’s potential to launch an IPO. In 2014, AshleyMadison had $115 million in sales and is aiming for a $200 million IPO later this year.
