“You got to understand people, the social impact behind this leak, we’re talking about families, we’re talking about their children, we’re talking about their wives, we’re talking about their male partners”.
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On July 12, he said, employees of Avid Life Media opened their laptops to find a threatening message on their screens accompanied by the AC/DC song “Thunderstruck”.
At a press conference this morning, the Toronto Police said it was investigating “two unconfirmed reports” of suicides related to the Ashley Madison hack.
Highly effective, affordable crisis management program for exposed Ashley Madison users can save careers, relationships, endorsements and reputation. Avid Life Media, Ashley Madison’s parent, is based in Toronto, which is why this is the TO police’s business.
A Canadian Press analysis found hundreds of email addresses in the data release appeared to be connected to federal, provincial and municipal workers across Canada, as well as to the RCMP and the military. “This is a unique situation that has caused enormous social and economic fallout”.
Police say criminals are capitalizing on the cyberattack, and using the leaked information to extort people. “Nobody is going to be able to erase that information now”, he said.
The investigation into the hacking has broadened to include global law enforcement, with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security joining last week. “This is your wake-up call”, Evans said, addressing the so-called “Impact Team” hackers directly during the news conference.
Several users have also become the victims of blackmail and other “spin off crimes” Mr Evans said. “Our role as a policing organization is to conduct criminal investigations and provide the safety and security to the communities that we serve”, he said.
Canadian police are suggesting two alleged suicides may have links to the Ashley Madison hacking scandal, which has already dumped emails, credit card numbers and other bits of personal information belonging to the website’s users online.
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In addition to downloading inadvertent malware, spyware and viruses, providing personal information to these thieves exposes the suspect, and anyone that may be closely associated with them, to inadvertent danger.
