Ashley Madison Offers Reward For Identifying Hackers

The Ashley Madison scandal is far from over. Avid Life Media, the company behind cheating site Ashley Madison, is now offering a reward for identification of the hackers responsible for the company's massive data leak — as real-life couples suffer the consequences of the site's now-public information. Avid Life Media is ready to pay up $500,000 Canadian dollars (roughly $378,000 U.S.) as a reward for helping the company identify the parties behind the data breach that leaked information about over 32 million members, as well as company employees. The Toronto Police Service is aiding in the investigation and has warned those trying to reveal information about the hackers that they could be subject to “malware, spyware, [and] virus attacks.” The group claiming responsibility for the leak calls themselves "The Impact Team." Curiously, earlier this month, Avid Life CEO Noel Biderman told KrebsOnSecurity that the company had identified the culprit — an individual (likely a contractor) who had accessed Avid Life Media's servers in the past. Meanwhile, consequences following the breach are building. More names continue to surface from the leaked data, including the husband half of the viral Christian vlogging couple Sam and Nia. Some couples are already seeking divorce, while police are investigating two separate suicides that may be tied to the data breach as well. Canadian lawyers launched a class-action lawsuit seeking $760 million for citizens affected by the hack. With all this money floating around in the Ashley Madison aftermath, it sure does seem like the company should have just put that cash into better security practices to begin with, right?