[Ransom]Ashley Madison customers are Paying over 100k in bitcoin to Hackers.

[everaja]

Millions of Ashley Madison customers had their personal information leaked in a hack of the site, and now blackmailers are making big money using the data.

The Register reports that researchers have been able to track payments online that were sent using the virtual currency bitcoin.

Cloudmark analyst Toshiro Nishimura looked into bitcoin addresses that were included in emails sent to victims of the Ashley Madison hack. Blackmailers have been contacting users of the site promising to remove their data from the internet, or threatening to send it to their relatives or colleagues.

If you know a bitcoin address then it’s possible to track payments sent over the internet to it. Nishimura found several bitcoin addresses that were being used by blackmailers to seek payment. He was able to track payments to the addresses, and found 67 different transactions which indicate that Ashley Madison customers paid around $US6,400 to scammers.

Toronto Police held a press conference in August to outline the investigation into the Ashley Madison hack. During the press conference police showed an example of one of the blackmail emails received by an Ashley Madison customer.

Source:Internet link: http://www.businessinsider.com.au/ashley-madison-customers-sending-money-to-blackmailers-2015-9

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[manselr]

The irony is, this all could have been avoided if Ashley Madison used Bitcoin to accept payments instead of the outdated credit card system which due it's centralized nature requires that ALL data is stored, all credit card movements + information is on their databases. So I hope they learned the lesson and next time they buy some Bitcoin.

[CPNpr]

I do not feel sorry for the Ashley Madison customers. How stupid. Regards to the hackers, good job! Once again it have proven how unsafe things are and Bitcoin has shown another time how to be used for criminals.

[S4VV4S]

The irony is, this all could have been avoided if Ashley Madison used Bitcoin to accept payments instead of the outdated credit card system which due it's centralized nature requires that ALL data is stored, all credit card movements + information is on their databases. So I hope they learned the lesson and next time they buy some Bitcoin.

That is not true.
Credit Card processing does NOT require all customer data being stored on the stores website.
Credit card processing requires some vital customer info for payment processing but that data need be not stored afterwards.

However, I do agree with you that using Bitcoin would have made things a little more private for their customers.

[CPNpr]

The irony is, this all could have been avoided if Ashley Madison used Bitcoin to accept payments instead of the outdated credit card system which due it's centralized nature requires that ALL data is stored, all credit card movements + information is on their databases. So I hope they learned the lesson and next time they buy some Bitcoin.

That is not true.
Credit Card processing does NOT require all customer data being stored on the stores website.
Credit card processing requires some vital customer info for payment processing but that data need be not stored afterwards.

However, I do agree with you that using Bitcoin would have made things a little more private for their customers.

Indeed private for the criminals now, haha ...

[jonald_fyookball]

I do not feel sorry for the Ashley Madison customers. How stupid. Regards to the hackers, good job! Once again it have proven how unsafe things are and Bitcoin has shown another time how to be used for criminals.

I disagree. I think there's a special place in hell for the hackers who would try to extort people like that.

[CPNpr]

I do not feel sorry for the Ashley Madison customers. How stupid. Regards to the hackers, good job! Once again it have proven how unsafe things are and Bitcoin has shown another time how to be used for criminals.

I disagree. I think there's a special place in hell for the hackers who would try to extort people like that.

Yeah ... next place to the cheating Ashley Madison customers,

[unamis76]

People dancing on the rain tend to get wet. Too bad. hackers always see a way to profit...

[Lauda]

I do not feel sorry for the Ashley Madison customers. How stupid. Regards to the hackers, good job! Once again it have proven how unsafe things are and Bitcoin has shown another time how to be used for criminals.

I'm not sure that you should be feeling sorry for cheaters. Karma has struck them hard. A ransom like this is always taught because there is no guarantee that the hacker will not keep asking for money. This reminds me of CryptoLocker, where they made off with around $3M. I do not feel sorry for such people at all. Practically with the information dump, anyone who is familiar with Bitcoin and privacy could extort money from these people. I've seen some examples online.

That is not true.
Credit Card processing does NOT require all customer data being stored on the stores website.
Credit card processing requires some vital customer info for payment processing but that data need be not stored afterwards.

However, I do agree with you that using Bitcoin would have made things a little more private for their customers.

You're partially right. The number of companies that do not store data is minimum. The benefits of Bitcoin should be obvious in cases like these.

I disagree. I think there's a special place in hell for the hackers who would try to extort people like that.

So you support cheating? Interesting.

[S4VV4S]

The irony is, this all could have been avoided if Ashley Madison used Bitcoin to accept payments instead of the outdated credit card system which due it's centralized nature requires that ALL data is stored, all credit card movements + information is on their databases. So I hope they learned the lesson and next time they buy some Bitcoin.

That is not true.
Credit Card processing does NOT require all customer data being stored on the stores website.
Credit card processing requires some vital customer info for payment processing but that data need be not stored afterwards.

However, I do agree with you that using Bitcoin would have made things a little more private for their customers.

Indeed private for the criminals now, haha ...

On the contrary, those addresses will be on many peoples (and agencies) radar now.

[lumeire]

The thing is, this would be bad press for bitcoin. Silk road and such are still fresh.

[CPNpr]

The thing is, this would be bad press for bitcoin. Silk road and such are still fresh.

Again and will not the last.

[S4VV4S]

I do not feel sorry for the Ashley Madison customers. How stupid. Regards to the hackers, good job! Once again it have proven how unsafe things are and Bitcoin has shown another time how to be used for criminals.

I'm not sure that you should be feeling sorry for cheaters. Karma has struck them hard. A ransom like this is always taught because there is no guarantee that the hacker will not keep asking for money. This reminds me of CryptoLocker, where they made off with around $3M. I do not feel sorry for such people at all. Practically with the information dump, anyone who is familiar with Bitcoin and privacy could extort money from these people. I've seen some examples online.

That is not true.
Credit Card processing does NOT require all customer data being stored on the stores website.
Credit card processing requires some vital customer info for payment processing but that data need be not stored afterwards.

However, I do agree with you that using Bitcoin would have made things a little more private for their customers.

You're partially right. The number of companies that do not store data is minimum. The benefits of Bitcoin should be obvious in cases like these.

I disagree. I think there's a special place in hell for the hackers who would try to extort people like that.

So you support cheating? Interesting.

That is true.
Aparently they store that data for ease of use (so you don't have to re-input it the next time).
I find that an accident incident waitting to happen...

[bryant.coleman]

Has anyone noticed the eerie resemblance to the recent crypto-locker ransomware scam? Even the ransom amount seems to be the same. For me, it seems like some of the guys behind the crypto-locker scam are behind this new scandal (the FBI claims that they shut down Crypto-locker in 2014, and arrested almost all of its masterminds).

[jonald_fyookball]

I disagree. I think there's a special place in hell for the hackers who would try to extort people like that.

So you support cheating? Interesting.

Please don't put words in my mouth.  Two wrongs don't make a right, and I think infidelity is far less malicious than blackmail.

[Bitfundit]

You are asking for trouble anytime you link a website facilitating cheating/adulterous Liasions and your Facebook acc, Duh! 😐🔫

Stupid people, you reap what you sow......

[nutildah]

Not very original at all. I give the extorter a C+.

If I were a "victim" of the hack, I would definitely not give in to any of these blackmailers. What's to stop a flood of other would-be blackmailers from doing the exact same thing? Nothing. Customers who have been targeted because they are wealthy or well-known will likely continue facing this same scenario for months or even years to come.

Frankly I don't know how people can live with themselves wasting their lifetime in such an evil and destructive fashion.

I downloaded the entire database and identified the ex-mayor of my hometown plus a few ex-NFL players that live where I live, but I'm not going to attempt to extort them because I am just not that pathetic.

[ebliever]

And the irony is, all these poor guys didn't have affairs. They just wound up chatting with Ashley Madison sockpuppets on the site. (Analysis of the hack data shows virtually zero real female activity at the site, but tens of thousands of sockpuppet accounts. So almost no one was having a real affair, but they are paying for it now.)

On a more serious note, I hope a lot of people find healing after all the hurt. There's a new movie out, I haven't seen it but from the descriptions it sounds almost tailor-made for the people caught up in this situation. So if that includes any readers, please check it out. http://warroomthemovie.com/

[Mickeyb]

The irony is, this all could have been avoided if Ashley Madison used Bitcoin to accept payments instead of the outdated credit card system which due it's centralized nature requires that ALL data is stored, all credit card movements + information is on their databases. So I hope they learned the lesson and next time they buy some Bitcoin.

Exactly this. But don't worry, it won't be too long before a site like this emerges or before even some existing "conventional" website doesn't change their systems. They just need to watch and learn on what is actually happening.

About this ransom: This is actually amazing how another use case has found itself in the liberal, un-governed system. This news, even if somebody might see it as negative will bring a lot of good to Bitcoin.

[Bitfundit]

And the irony is, all these poor guys didn't have affairs. They just wound up chatting with Ashley Madison sockpuppets on the site. (Analysis of the hack data shows virtually zero real female activity at the site, but tens of thousands of sockpuppet accounts. So almost no one was having a real affair, but they are paying for it now.)

True that! ⬆️⬆️⬆️

Lol It's not like any of these numpties actually got to bang the hot exec chick pictured on the website, they just purchased to opportunity to get exposed as a cheater, sad.

[Kprawn]

If you cheat in your marriage, and you get exposed, do not blame Bitcoin... blame yourself. You would not have been in that situation, if you did not fool around behind your

partners back.   It is a pity hackers is once again dragging Bitcoin through the mud... last time it was selling naked pics of celebrities. It is sad for possible first time users

of Bitcoin to have had this experience for their first transaction... most of them would probably hate Bitcoin, because they will shift the anger towards something other than

their own behaviour  

[jonald_fyookball]

This is the kind of "bad people" I think should not be punished (these "hackers"). Liars, cheaters, and all of their kind deserve public scorn (or been blackmailed ).

So you think those that are trying to humiliate others and profit from it are of a higher moral caliber than those than are seeking to have "fun on the side" ?

[Hugroll]

the message seems a little fake, the "hacker" is trying way too hard to convince the person and scare him. but thats just my opinion.

[Lauda]

Please don't put words in my mouth.  Two wrongs don't make a right, and I think infidelity is far less malicious than blackmail.

Please list a person (in this particular hack) who got harmed for doing nothing. You can't talk about either cases in general, but rather in particular. Cheaters deserve something. Are you saying that it was wrong to expose this to the world? It is wrong to tell someone's wife that they were being cheated upon all along? Should we keep quiet about these things?
As a side note, I'm not saying that I support cheating, blackmail nor hacking.

[jonald_fyookball]

Please don't put words in my mouth.  Two wrongs don't make a right, and I think infidelity is far less malicious than blackmail.

Please list a person (in this particular hack) who got harmed for doing nothing. You can't talk about either cases in general, but rather in particular. Cheaters deserve something. Are you saying that it was wrong to expose this to the world? It is wrong to tell someone's wife that they were being cheated upon all along? Should we keep quiet about these things?
As a side note, I'm not saying that I support cheating, blackmail nor hacking.

You can debate whether they shouldn't have released this information (I think they shouldn't have), but its definitely wrong
to release it and then demand money.  In my opinion anyway.

I think its nobody's business what you do in your personal life.  Your marital fidelity is your own business.
You think other people should go around passing out judgements? Cause thats what it sounds like you're implying.

[poeEDgar]

Please list a person (in this particular hack) who got harmed for doing nothing. You can't talk about either cases in general, but rather in particular. Cheaters deserve something. Are you saying that it was wrong to expose this to the world? It is wrong to tell someone's wife that they were being cheated upon all along? Should we keep quiet about these things?

For doing nothing? I suppose a lot of people could have signed up and never had an affair. Or they were single in the first place. Or their account was set up by another person as a prank or something more malicious.

I'm not a god, so I'm not really interested in prescribing peoples' punishment for cheating. You can't really compare "telling someone's wife" with actively extorting them for profit.

[Lauda]

You can debate whether they shouldn't have released this information (I think they shouldn't have), but its definitely wrong
to release it and then demand money.  In my opinion anyway.

I think its nobody's business what you do in your personal life.  Your marital fidelity is your own business.
You think other people should go around passing out judgements? Cause thats what it sounds like you're implying.

I'm not implying that. However, this is exactly what is happening these days (both on and off the internet). Seems to me like, while you are not in support of cheating (your words), you are okay with it?

I'm not a god, so I'm not really interested in prescribing peoples' punishment for cheating. You can't really compare "telling someone's wife" with actively extorting them for profit.

You both have forgotten something important here. With the information being public (you can't really tell who hacked it and who leaked it), anyone is able to extort them. You can't put everyone in the same bag because:
1) Participant A hacked the site; B) Participant B leaked information; C) Participant C (or random person since information is public) is blackmailing people.
I'm not saying that there isn't a possibility that there is a participant (X) who is doing (has done) all of the above.
Update: Again, defending the blackmailers was not the intention/point.

It's quite sad to see people cheering for blackmailers.

I'd say the same for cheating.

[uxgpf]

It's quite sad to see people cheering for blackmailers.

[jonald_fyookball]

while you are not in support of cheating (your words), you are okay with it?
 

I wouldn't be okay if my wife did it 

Seriously though its a complex matter.
If you're really that curious as to what I think,
feel free to start another thread in the offtopic section
and we can discuss.

[poeEDgar]

You both have forgotten something important here. With the information being public (you can't really tell who hacked it and who leaked it), anyone is able to extort them. You can't put everyone in the same bag because:
1) Participant A hacked the site; B) Participant B leaked information; C) Participant C (or random person since information is public) is blackmailing people.
I'm not saying that there isn't a possibility that there is a participant (X) who is doing (has done) all of the above.

I don't care about any of that. I'm pretty confident that the database was hacked with the intent to extort (or to sell to a buyer that intended to extort). In any case, they knew that they were exposing a lot of innocent people and opening the door to mass extortion. Whether it was some self-righteous religious scum pushing some moral agenda or profiteers intending to extort, there is no way to rationalize this. Sorry. Certainly not under the pretense that "cheaters deserve something."

[jonald_fyookball]

You both have forgotten something important here. With the information being public (you can't really tell who hacked it and who leaked it), anyone is able to extort them. You can't put everyone in the same bag because:
1) Participant A hacked the site; B) Participant B leaked information; C) Participant C (or random person since information is public) is blackmailing people.
I'm not saying that there isn't a possibility that there is a participant (X) who is doing (has done) all of the above.

I don't care about any of that. I'm pretty confident that the database was hacked with the intent to extort (or to sell to a buyer that intended to extort). In any case, they knew that they were exposing a lot of innocent people and opening the door to mass extortion. Whether it was some self-righteous religious scum pushing some moral agenda or profiteers intending to extort, there is no way to rationalize this. Sorry. Certainly not under the pretense that "cheaters deserve something."

I agree.  Cheating is not objectively a crime (although it can cause emotional harm).  Hacking and blackmailing is.

[tmltd]

what if a cheated one hired a hacker to F**K the cheater...  

EDIT: the payment method CC or Bitcoin has nothing to do with the security of a site. if a site has a vulnerability or security flaw a hacker can compromise it.

[jonald_fyookball]

This is the kind of "bad people" I think should not be punished (these "hackers"). Liars, cheaters, and all of their kind deserve public scorn (or been blackmailed ).

So you think those that are trying to humiliate others and profit from it are of a higher moral caliber than those than are seeking to have "fun on the side" ?

Yes. If you are into "having fun on the side" why do not you simply set an open relationship? (be honest with your partner and "allow" her/him to have her/his own, or get someone worth for her/his standards).

On the other hand, if you are not married why are you "looking for fun" in a site targeted to married women?, there are plenty of single chicks willing to have one-night sex (for a few drinks or, even, for free). I have no idea about how much is the membership at Ashley Madison, maybe you could even hire a "decent/fine" prostitute with that money.

For doing nothing? I suppose a lot of people could have signed up and never had an affair. Or they were single in the first place. Or their account was set up by another person as a prank or something more malicious.

I'm not a god, so I'm not really interested in prescribing peoples' punishment for cheating. You can't really compare "telling someone's wife" with actively extorting them for profit.

They may choose not to pay . I have never visited any of those sites, but from what I have read here the information came from credit cards (or well, you need to be too dumb to use your real details, if so, there would be no need of any hack, just a curious friend of you searching the site), soooo... they funded their accounts, sooo... they at least had the intention (I mean, if they had had the opportunity, the would have done it). About being single then marrying, I do not know how old the site is, but come on... did you marry your 3 weeks girlfriend? Besides what I already pointed out up there (why would you look for married women?), what would be the problem in recognizing "yeah, I used to like bitches"?

Judge HOW YA LIKE.
I see extortion as a form of fraud and malice. 

One can justify just about anything.  A thief's morals are that if he can get away with stealing something, he rightfully earned it because its all part of the game of life.

[Dmc123dmc]

Silly people..... Why would you use your regular email address to do something bad when it takes 5 minutes to make a new one?

[everaja]

I personally don't believe this but someone over the Forum was saying that the sudden increase in BTC Price is due to the reason quoted in OP.
What do you Say friends?

[Lauda]

I personally don't believe this but someone over the Forum was saying that the sudden increase in BTC Price is due to the reason quoted in OP.
What do you Say friends?

Why would you believe what random people say in this forum? Look at the wall observer thread and the speculation section. You're going to find a lot of nonsense and 'reasons' for price increases and decreases. The small rise was definitely not caused by Ashley Madison customers.

Silly people..... Why would you use your regular email address to do something bad when it takes 5 minutes to make a new one?

5 minutes? Only if your WPM is 10.  Making a email address can take less than 30 seconds.

[LFC_Bitcoin]

I do not feel sorry for the Ashley Madison customers. How stupid. Regards to the hackers, good job! Once again it have proven how unsafe things are and Bitcoin has shown another time how to be used for criminals.

Nor do I. Paying & willing to cheat on your husband/wife? It's feee game as far as I'm concerned, they're open to being scammed & they probably deserve it as some kind of karma for being cheating ass holes.

[gentlemand]

As all of the info is in the public domain the same person could be blackmailed a thousand times over. I think everyone in this particular equation is a bit dim.

[Brangdon]

I'm pretty confident that the database was hacked with the intent to extort (or to sell to a buyer that intended to extort).

That seems unlikely to me. Why publish the database in that case? Once all the details are out in public, there's not much potential for blackmail any more, or to sell it to a blackmailer. (And likewise, anyone who paid after the database was published, was trying to lock the stable door after the horse had bolted.) Most likely the blackmailers are not the hackers, but saw an opportunity to exploit gullible people.

[feoffee]

Should just expose all of them dirty people cheating on their other half

[Q7]

While i don't feel sorry for those guys who don't cherish their marriage and instead decide to cheat on their spouse, in no way should they deserve such punishment. The extortion will surely make life miserable and who knows how long it will drag on.