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Here’s what Ashley Madison members have told me

troyhunt.com

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Re: Here’s what Ashley Madison members have told me

#41

Post by ams6110 »

simondelacourt wrote: post #20
everyone wrote: post #13

Anyone else think this is funny?

In this case; http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_i... you might call it funny. But I'd probably call it sad. I don't think that exposing peoples private lives, even though they did something wrong, on this scale is remotely funny. I think it is quite sad. It does not only effect the members of the site, but also their families, the company they work at, etc.. This breach has so much collateral…

It's not funny, it's tragic -- which can have a element of dark humor. It's exposing several dark facets of human nature: the desire to cheat on one of the most solemn commitments a person can make, and the vengeful joy others take in seeing those cheaters exposed.

Re: Here’s what Ashley Madison members have told me

#42

Post by _cpancake »

RodericDay wrote: post #37
mayaross wrote: post #34

One thing that struck me about this is that all the messages from people worried their data are from men. Troy even states that explicitly: "very close to 100% of the emails I got were about men having accounts on the site". Why is that? Is it because men are more likely to cheat, or because men are more likely to need the help of online services to do so? I suspect both are true, but can say with confidence that the…

of "the remaining" gender inequality?

I'm not quite sure what you're confused about. The gender inequality that still exists. It's pretty straightforward.

Re: Here’s what Ashley Madison members have told me

#43

Post by toothbrush »

jalanco wrote: post #6

Reading this made me think about the hard problem of "removing" yourself from the internet. I don't think it is possible. But I do think there might be an opportunity for a service that creates so much conflicting and false information about a person that it is not possible to know the truth about them: false addresses, phone numbers, credit histories, you name it. Just a thought.

Apparently this kind of "identity management" service already exists. http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/21/internet-s...

Re: Here’s what Ashley Madison members have told me

#44

Post by nitrogen »

icebraining wrote: post #22
DaFranker wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EULAs are never legally binding, and especially not for someone who is 1) not currently a consenting user, and 2) invoking a right. So in the EU, if current legislation projects bear fruit, a case could probably be made for implementing this under the protection of the right to be forgotten, and there would be very little those services could do to prevent it.

I very much doubt any directive regarding the right to be forgotten will give you the right to use fake information. It's essentially inviting fraud.

What is the difference between a fake profile and a pseudonymous profile? Is it really fraud to use something other than your real name in non-financial settings? What about other-than-real data? People have been using fake names and fake data since the dawn of the net; why would this be any different?

Re: Here’s what Ashley Madison members have told me

#46

Post by burnburnburn »

transfire wrote: post #36

Anyone notice that the media is eating this up? But let me tell you the media also lent its support to this website. I was watching CNBC a few years ago and they had the CEO of Ashley Madison on and had a great time talking about their "brilliant business model", and how great the site was. No one seemed morally repulsed then. Well I was curious just from a business perspective (and curious how many people would actu…

The immoral business behavior seems to be the hackers' motivation, based on what they've written. They sought out to destroy the business. I'm guessing they'll succeed in that.

Re: Here’s what Ashley Madison members have told me

#47

Post by pluma »

nsajko wrote: post #40
transfire wrote: post #36

Anyone notice that the media is eating this up? But let me tell you the media also lent its support to this website. I was watching CNBC a few years ago and they had the CEO of Ashley Madison on and had a great time talking about their "brilliant business model", and how great the site was. No one seemed morally repulsed then. Well I was curious just from a business perspective (and curious how many people would actu…

Was that even legal?

Not in the EU.

Re: Here’s what Ashley Madison members have told me

#48

Post by [deleted] »

mayaross wrote: post #34

One thing that struck me about this is that all the messages from people worried their data are from men. Troy even states that explicitly: "very close to 100% of the emails I got were about men having accounts on the site". Why is that? Is it because men are more likely to cheat, or because men are more likely to need the help of online services to do so? I suspect both are true, but can say with confidence that the…

[deleted]

Re: Here’s what Ashley Madison members have told me

#49

Post by NotOscarWilde »

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #4

Immediately, somebody should begin a study on the impact of this data leak. Millions of cheaters exposed? What will be the increase in counseling? Divorce rate? What percentage of folks will carry on like nothing has happened? It's an incredible story. I'm not sure the English language has a word to describe this: watching millions of people go through marital pain all at the same time. It's not a train wreck -- you…

> But I also do not approve on taking action that would result in folks I do not know getting exposed. Folks have a right to their own lives.

I do not think there is such a right, because what you are describing is (in probably many cases) a right to break an agreement (marriage in this case) and keep pretending that you honor it until you yourself disclose it.

In simpler terms: you may have "a right to your own life", but do you have a right to lie to your partner?

Re: Here’s what Ashley Madison members have told me

#50

Post by buro9 »

jacquesm wrote: post #15

Think about how easy it would be to ruin someones reputation by signing them up for all kinds of shady services and then waiting for the (inevitable) breach. Of course that possibility will not stop the witchhunt but I'm fairly sure that at least a small percentage of the people in that database have no idea they're even in it.

Or, run an internet forum and wait a while.

I've been signed up to so much over the years that I mostly ignore it now, just unsub from the things I can and mark as spam everything else.

BTW, if anyone implements a "Thank you for signing up" email, please please please put the original IP address used to sign up in the email along with the "If this is not you". The few services that have done this have enabled me to identify (from my own web server logs) the users of the forum(s) that have been peeved at me on those days. That at least gives me the chance to talk to them and stem the flow of porn emails (or whatever they've decided to sign me up to).

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