4 Things You Need To Know About The New Ashley Madison Hack Scandal

I'll be to the point: I have no patience for cheating or cheaters.

That said, I'm not sure I'm one to be sympathetic towards Ashley Madison users who are currently being blackmailed by a group of hackers who have taken over the domain. Is it awful that they're being blackmailed? Absolutely. Is it the bed that they made? Absolutely and now they must lie in it.

Beyond the cheating, didn't anyone ever explain to these people the way the internet works? Nothing and no one is safe. Nothing is private, and that's just basic internet sense. 

For the love of all things good, you could've gathered that from the first time Ashley Madison was hacked and a list of user names was revealed.

But I think it would be safe to say that cheaters who not only cheat but seek out dating sites for willing participants aren't the most thoughtful people and perhaps they hadn't considered learning from previous users mistakes. 

However, if there's one thing we know it's that they didn't (learn). So, of course, here we are again with another Ashley Madison hack list scandal and another couple million people's lives have just been tossed into limbo as they await the heartbreaking result of this most recent hack. 

Here is what we know so far and what you need to know about the new Ashley Madison hack list threat:

1. Who is behind the new Ashley Madison hack?

The "men" behind the mask, pulling the strings, or whatever is a group that has access to a Ukrainian top level domain. This has allowed them to use data from Ashley Madison.

2. May 1 is D-Day

In this instance 'D' will likely stand for divorce in the case of many of the users of the dating site, but that's not my business. The group of hackers sent out a message to users informing them that: 

"On May 1, 2017, we are launching our new site — Cheaters Gallery — exposing those who cheat and destroy families. We will launch the site with a big email to all the friends and family of cheaters taken from Facebook, LinkedIn and other social sites. This will include you if do not pay to opting out."

How much does opting out cost? We're hearing $500 in bitcoin.

I've personally never been blackmailed, but I've heard (from a movie or two) that it never stops once you give in; they may tell you you've got the option of paying however, they're highly likely to resell the list or rebrand themselves as a new group.

Maybe consider having a talk with your significant other before things get this far. 

3. No innocent victims

According to the people behind this blackmail hack, they're out to get the low-down dirty cheats of the world — who have at one point or another destroyed a family by way of their cheating exploits. 

But there's only one way to NOT be a victim, well, besides not going on a cheating website.

Do not pay and then cross your fingers that no one else does. The idea of "herd immunity" is the only thing that will get the blackmailers to back off.

4. This isn't going to end. 

This isn't the first time some geeks behind computers have declared themselves vigilantes of the web and took over Ashley Madison, and as I mentioned earlier it's not even the first time they got as far as exposing people.

We can draw one conclusion: This isn't and won't be the last time the Ashley Madison hack list will be threatened with exposure. The information lives on the dark web, just waiting for clever criminals looking to make a quick buck. 

So, if you're going to get in the dirt you may want to wise up and take the advice Ashley Madison provides on its security and privacy page pertaining to keeping your identity safe.

But, as long as you're on these sites there's definitely no happy ending.