What was the Ashley Madison data breach?

The Ashley Madison data breach was a significant cyber attack that occurred in July 2015, targeting the user data of Ashley Madison, a website known for facilitating extramarital affairs. A group or individual known as The Impact Team claimed responsibility for the breach and threatened to release sensitive information of more than 30 million users unless the site was shut down. Despite its demands not being met, the attackers published a massive trove of data, including personal information such as names, email addresses, credit card details, and user preferences. This led to widespread privacy concerns, reputational damage to individuals involved, potential extortion scenarios, and triggered debates on internet security and the ethics of hacking. The breach had profound consequences for its parent company, Avid Life Media (later rebranded as Ruby Corp), both legally and financially, along with personal repercussions for users who had their private lives exposed publicly.