Yes, life is indeed short in the grand scheme of things. Now, those who used an online dating site for people in committed relationships have potentially had their personal data compromised; the numbers amount to an estimated 37 million.
The site, AshleyMadison has gone the way of one of another similar site, AdultFriendFinder and was recently breached by a group calling itself The Impact Team. The group released data including network maps, employee salary information, and company bank account data by posting it online. The group takes issue with the company’s policy of allowing a full delete option of a user’s profile that for a fee will remove all details. Instead, it claims that information remains; including credit card payment details, real name, and address and threatens to post it publicly to prove it.
Online dating, regardless of the type are popular and likely here to stay. According to an April 2015 Pew Research Study, one in five adults between the ages of 24 and 35 has used online dating services, as have eight percent of 45-54 year-olds. One in five adults know someone who has met his or her partner via online dating. Many people have created a profile on one of the many sites at one time or another, even if just out of sheer curiosity. One-third of those with profiles have never actually gone on a date as a result of meeting someone on site.
Therefore, it may not be a bad way to meet someone. However, if you do decide to jump into the online dating scene, keep a few tips in mind to protect your security and identity:
- Use caution about what information you share with others. Once it’s on the Internet, expect it to stay there forever. It’s not so easy to just take it back or remove it.
- Never post private details to the public such as birthdays and addresses. Consider using a code name on the public facing page.
- Although it is no guarantee your payment data is safe, as incidents such as this demonstrate, ensure that the site is secure before entering payment details. Usually there is a padlock icon or some other security indicator on the page and the URL should be preceded with “https://.”
- When you are finished using any online social site, including social media such as Twitter or Instagram, completely remove or delete your profile.
These will not guarantee your security, but it certainly increases the odds.
Parent company Avid Life Media (ALM) says it is working “diligently and feverishly” to remove the company’s intellectual property from the sites on which the hackers posted it. It also stated in a press release that investigators are very close to confirming who it believes is responsible; which points to someone who had authorized access to the network at some point.
The hacker(s) have threatened to release information on all of the users if AshleyMadison and sister site Established Men are not taken offline. The data supposedly includes secret fantasies, credit card details, names and addresses.
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