Adult Dating Site Hack Revealed, 3.9 million Members’ Personal Information Leaked [Video]


In probably the most personal database hack in history, more than 3.9 million site users’ sensitive information has been revealed on the web. Adult Friend Finder, an online adult dating site, currently has over 63 million members.

FriendFinder Networks, which owns the adult dating site, told the Wall Street Journal that they’ve already contacted authorities. “Until the investigation is completed, it will be difficult to confirm the full scope of the incident, but we will continue to work vigilantly to address this potential issue and will provide updates as we learn more,” a company spokesman said. “Protecting information is our top priority and we will continue to take the appropriate steps.”

The Wall Street Journal writes that in April, a security specialist discovered the dating site hack, and revealed the perpetrator claims to be owed $250,000 by FriendFinder Networks, making this hack is very personal. According to Channel 4, the leaked data reveals the dating preferences of the adult victims, as well as marital status, and sexual orientation. The stolen information also revealed names, email addresses, birthdays, zip codes, and IP addresses of the site members. It wasn’t clear in the beginning how large the site hack truly is.

The revealed data also includes deleted account information, not just that of active adult members. Shaun Harper, an ex-member of the dating site, told Channel 4.

“The site seemed OK, but when I got into it I realized it wasn’t really for me, I was looking for something longer term. But by that time, I’d already given my information. You couldn’t get into the site without handing over information. I deleted my account, so I thought the information had gone. These sites are meant to be secure.”

Hackers have said they intend to target the adult dating site victims with spam email, and Harper confirmed he’s already been slammed with email spam from various sources. Within hours of infiltrating the sensitive information, users’ data was already uploaded to another website by a person identified only as “ROR[RG].” While it seems FriendFinder Networks has known about the hack since April, the hack wasn’t made clear to the public until Friday, May 22, 2015.

“Breaches happen,” said Will Gragido, Head of Threat Intelligence Research for Digital Shadows, a London information security company, told The Wall Street Journal. “What makes this one more controversial is the nature of the site.”

It’s believed that now that the breadth of the adult dating site hack is revealed, other hackers will start searching for potential blackmail targets.

[Image credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images]

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