(Adds details on military, Avid Media company, background)
By Josephine Mason and Alastair Sharp
TORONTO, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Love lives and reputations may
be at risk after the release of customer data from infidelity
website Ashley Madison, an unprecedented breach of privacy
likely to rattle users' attitudes towards the Internet.
Hackers dumped a big cache of data containing millions of
email addresses for U.S. government officials, UK civil servants
and high-level executives at European and North America
corporations late on Tuesday, the latest cyber attack to raise
concerns about Internet security and data protection.
The hacker attack has been a big blow to Toronto-based
assignation website firm Avid Life Media, which owns Ashley
Madison and has indefinitely postponed the adultery site's IPO
plans. But many professions stand to benefit from the unfolding
saga, from lawyers to therapists to cyber security firms.
Prominent divorce lawyer Raoul Felder said the release is
the best thing to happen to his profession since the seventh
Commandment forbade adultery in the Bible.
"I've never had anything like this before," he said.
The data dump began to make good on the hackers' threat last
month to leak nude photos, sexual fantasies, real names and
credit card information for as many as 37 million customers
worldwide of Ashley Madison, which uses the slogan: "Life is
short. Have an affair."
The public embarrassment and emotional toll is likely to be
enormous on unsuspecting people whose extra-marital affairs may
have been exposed on the web or even whose emails were used
without their knowledge to sign up for the site.
"These poor people will be dealing with it in such a public
way. It will be absolutely devastating," said Michele Weiner
Davis, marriage therapist in Colorado and author of Divorce
Busting.
For the partners or spouses, the initial shock will likely
turn to anger and then a deep feeling of hurt and betrayal, she
said.
"It's no picnic for the unfaithful partner either."
Ashley Madison members would likely be best served by coming
clean instead of waiting to see if their indiscretion is
discovered, said Dr B. Janet Hibbs, a psychologist and couples
therapist in Philadelphia.
"Fall on your sword if you want to save your relationship,"
she said. "Be prepared for them to ask a lot of questions, to
not be defensive, to be compassionate."
The data release could have severe consequences for U.S.
service members if found to be real. Several tech websites
reported that more than 15,000 email addresses were government
and military ones.
Adultery, under certain criteria including the misuse of
government time and resources, is a crime in the U.S. armed
forces and can lead to dishonorable discharge or imprisonment.
IN HERE?
The hackers' move to identify members of the marital
cheating website appeared aimed at maximum damage to the
company, which also runs websites such as Cougarlife.com and
EstablishedMen.com, causing public embarrassment to its members,
rather than financial gain.
"Find yourself in here?," said the group, which calls itself
the Impact Team, in a statement alongside the data dump.
"It was [Avid Life Media] that failed you and lied to you.
Prosecute them and claim damages. Then move on with your life.
Learn your lesson and make amends. Embarrassing now, but you'll
get over it."
Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) was abuzz, with "hack" trending in fourth place.
Most comments expressed horror that people's identities were
exposed and many were astonished people had apparently used
their work emails to sign up to the site.
It is not clear how many of the clients are legitimate -
users do not have to verify their email when they sign up.
The lists were dumped on the so-called dark web, which is
only accessible using a specialized browser, but the database
was being decrypted and made more widely available.
Hundreds of the email addresses that were listed online were
linked to Harvard and Yale, but the Ivy League universities did
not respond to requests for comment if they were providing any
support or counseling to the people exposed.
A British parliamentarian whose email address was included
on the list said it had been stolen and used without her
knowledge, adding weight to the argument that inclusion does not
necessarily implicate individuals.
Still, the privacy intrusion has likely given people a jolt,
making them question the data they have stored on the Internet.
The financial impact for clients will be less of a factor
compared with previous, bigger breaches - Ashley Madison said on
Wednesday that current or past members' full credit card numbers
were not stolen and the company has not stored members' full
numbers.
SEVERE BLOW
For Avid Life Media, questions remained about whether more
data will be released and how its business can go on while the
U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and Canadian police
investigate what the company believes was an inside job.
Lawyers speculated whether any aggrieved members would
launch legal action against the company, which claims to be the
world's second-largest dating website behind Match.com, owned by
IAC/InterActive Corp IACI.O .
Avid Life values itself at $1 billion and reported revenue
of $115 million in 2014, up 45 percent from the preceding year.
"It's a pretty severe blow," said a banker familiar with the
company, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the
topic.
"If any business needed privacy, it would be them. Now
they've lost it."