The well-publicized Ashley Madison website was targeted where a massive data breach occurred where millions of users’ identities were released. The corporations that own and operate Ashley Madison, the extramarital-affairs website, are facing lawsuits that have impacted more than 39,000 users. The corporations known to have ownership rights of the Ashley Madison website are Avid Dating Life and Avid Life Media. These corporations are based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
A class action lawsuit has already been filed in Canada claiming more than $578 million in damages.
The data breach has caused a great deal of concern not just because of the sensitivity of the personal data and the character of persons using the website, but there is also the fact that compromised personal data is extremely dangerous when in the wrong hands.
The hackers that breached the website have dumped millions of names, including credit card information and location of residences and even passwords. Data dumped by the intrusion to website included individuals working as government officials, military personnel, executives, civil servants, and of course many ordinary individuals. Some of the names of the users that have been exposed are fictitious, but many are not.
There is much more to this security breach than just the embarrassment of individuals who have participated in the Ashley Madison “cheating site”.
At risk for those who have been exposed is not only the ridicule of loved ones, friends and associates, but also the fact that there is a great deal of potential financial loss at risk. You or someone you know may know someone affected by the hacked data. The resulting damages can be enormous.
Supposedly the hacking group that orchestrated the breach is called the Impact Crew.
Lawsuits to be filed against the owners and operators of AshleyMadison.com may be liable for enormous compensatory and punitive damages because of its failure to protect user information. It is well-known that the companies behind AshleyMadison.com charged additional fees to website users to remove all of their user data only to discover that the information was still there and exposed by this data breach.
The data breach was available to hackers because the owners and operators of Ashley Madison did not take the sufficient steps to protect users by encrypting or making the website much more secure. The Ashley Madison website was an easy target for hackers according to some experts. There were more than 37 million users of the website. Lawsuits have already been filed in Minnesota, Missouri, California, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas. Some of the cases are seeking class-action status. The lawsuits claim breach of contract, negligence and privacy law violations. The ramifications of the breach of privacy are enormous given the numbers who were violated.
The owners of the Ashley Madison website have offered $500,000 as a reward for information that might lead to the capture and arrest of the perpetrators they claim criminally invaded the website. In Canada there are reports that efforts by the hackers to extort money from individuals whose personal and financial information was in the hacker’s hands have already taken place.
If you or someone you know has been victimized by the data breach at the website of AshleyMadison.com, you or they may be entitled to significant compensatory and punitive for this intrusion.
If you or a loved one has been victimized by a data breach, contact Kreisman Law Offices 24 hours a day at 312.346.0045 or toll free 800.583.8002 for a free and immediate consultation, or complete a contact form online. We are here to assist you and your family so that responsible parties are held accountable for the damages suffered in data breach cases. We have more than 40 years of experience handling data breach cases. With our many years of experience in trying and settling data breach cases in Illinois and around the country, we have the know-how to best handle your case. Our service is unmatched.