This confirmed that someone had deliberately created false accounts. According to Flores, there is the possibility that Ashley Madison did it to create accounts in other countries in order to drive up usage globally.
However, the other scenario is that hackers made the accounts for spamming purposes – message boards, for instance, could be inundated with links to malicious websites. Flores also noted that like the Trend Micro honeypots, some of the email addresses that appeared on the Ashley Madison dump list hypothetically could have been lifted from other parts of the Web by spammers.
Depending on the weight of the information, and the desperation of the victim, this type of scheme can actually be quite effective.
Just imagine what a high-profile politician might be willing to pay.
Ashley Madison did not comply with the terms, and as a result, the hackers dumped 9.7 gigabytes of data belonging to the 32 million or so users.
Anyone with access to the Internet and a connected device could browse the list to see if anyone they knew, or suspected, might be an account holder.
Many online dating profiles are about putting yourself out there in the hopes of connecting with another person on romantic level, or in the case of Ashley Madison, for secret affairs.
Dating sites and apps have become so popular that we all know someone who has found love online.This means that even people who weren't looking to cheat could have been on the list.Any email address listed online has the potential to become fodder for fraud. Online dating sites are clearly at risk from spammers, and hackers who would look to expose this information, but what about imposters, and even spies?There are plenty of single people to meet if you want to take a digital break. Pick Up Single Women It may seem counter-intuitive to direct you to women while you're trying to find a new S.O.; but expanding your social network is a great first step in the pursuit of finding new great people.