What was the Ashley Madison attack?

The Ashley Madison attack occurred in July 2015 when a group of hackers calling themselves "The Impact Team" infiltrated the systems of the Ashley Madison website, a platform designed for married individuals to engage in extramarital affairs. The hackers accessed sensitive user data, including names, email addresses, credit card information, and personal preferences. The Impact Team threatened to release the data unless the site was shut down, citing the dishonesty of its premise and criticizing its parent company, Avid Life Media, for practices that included creating fake female profiles to lure male customers. Despite initial resistance, the hackers eventually released over 30 gigabytes of user data online, leading to widespread privacy concerns, public embarrassment for users, and even allegations of subsequent blackmail and extortion. The incident highlighted significant issues regarding digital security and the ethical implications of both hacking and such discrete service-oriented websites.