The Ashley Madison Hack, Explained

Last month, America’s most prominent dating site for cheating spouses got egg on its face after hackers stole millions of users’ private information. The stolen data reportedly included names and credit card information, photos, and sexually explicit chat logs.

The hackers objected to Ashley Madison’s morally dubious business model, and they tried to blackmail the site into shutting down.

Ashley Madison refused to suspend its operations, so now the hackers appear to have retaliated by releasing the stolen data online. While Ashley Madison hasn’t officially confirmed the data’s authenticity, it appears to be genuine. That’s going to cause heartburn for the millions of people who have created accounts on the site.

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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