Ashley Madison hacked: Personal details, nude photos stolen

The Impact Team claims it has stolen data from the 37 million members which use the adultery website AshleyMadison.com
The Impact Team claims it has stolen data from the 37 million members which use the adultery website AshleyMadison.com

Tens of thousands of New Zealanders are facing a nervous wait after an extramarital dating site was hacked.

Ashley Madison links up married people looking for affairs and boasts 37 million members worldwide. Now all their personal details could be released.

The site's tagline – 'Life is short - have an affair' – says it all, and while it's a taboo subject plenty of people have signed up, complete with photos, personal information and exactly what they're looking for in a second partner.

Hackers are now threatening to name and shame the millions of users of Ashley Madison worldwide, including an estimated 70,000 Kiwis.

But those people and millions like them may be thinking twice about the revealing pictures and very personal information they put online.

It's not the content of the website that's angered the hackers, who call themselves 'The Impact Team', but the promise of privacy.

Ashley Madison offers a full deletion service if you want to leave the site - but the hackers say members' details remain on the server.

The Impact Team claims to have full access to the company's database and says it will publish it all unless the site is removed.

The site's Canadian-based owners have brought in forensic experts to find the insider they say has committed cyber terrorism.

So far only a small amount of data has been released, so the anxious wait continues.

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