The Ashley Madison hack has led to two users of the site committing suicide after their personal information was posted online.
The Canadian police have reported that two individuals have taken their own lives after the hack, which led to the names, addresses, email accounts and credit card details of members of the site being published and distributed online.
After so many advocated the actions of the hackers in spreading this information online, hopefully this leads many to consider that perhaps supporting cyber criminals who will willfully give out the credit card information and personal details of strangers, whilst operating under the illusion that they have the authority to act as judge, jury and executioner, is a morally dubious position to take in this whole mess.
Acting staff superintendent Bryce Evans made a statement following the announcement at Toronto Police Headquarters, saying: “Today I can confirm that Avid Life Media is offering a CAD$500,000 (£241,065) reward to anyone providing information that leads to the identification, arrest and prosecution of the person or persons responsible for the leak of the Ashley Madison database.”
He then addressed the hackers themselves, who called themselves the Impact Team, saying: “Team Impact [sic], I want to make it very clear to you your actions are illegal and we will not be tolerating them. This is your wake up call.”
Evans also made an appeal to the “hacking community” to “do the right thing,” asking them acknowledge that the hack is a “unique situation that has caused enormous social and economic fallout. You know that the Impact Team has crossed the line. Do the right thing and reach out to us.”
A statement previously released by the Impact Team called for those who had their names revealed in the hack to simply “move on with their lives” and attempt to sue Ashley Madison for damages, distancing themselves from any wrongdoing in the process. Clearly the authorities won’t be so quick to do the same.
