The hack of Ashley Madison just became real for potentially millions of users. The website that billed itself as the premier destination for adult affairs appears to have failed in its aims to provide a discreet locale for its users to meet. A new leak nearly 10 gigabytes in size has unleashed a potential firestorm. If you think your information was in that leak, we won’t judge you but you need to read this.
Search for Your Email Address
You should begin by performing a Google search for your email address, and be sure you go through all of them. Dormant accounts are the best for hacking because the owner often doesn’t know the hack occurred because the email is never checked. This could potentially cause major problems for people who didn’t even know Ashley Madison existed.
You should also use a website like Trustify, which has created a form that checks your email address against the data released in a hack.
Search Your Name
The next avenue is to search for your name. Ashley Madison doesn’t use a process to verify a user’s email account, so it’s entirely possible someone with a negative opinion of you used your credentials to create an account under your name. Your email address might not show up on any related websites, but finding your name in these leaks can still cause trouble. What if your spouse saw your name, or your boss?
A few Links to Check
Here is a forum that released much of the data, but thankfully they would remove your info if you ask:
http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/read/2/1952412.html
This site below let’s you search by an email address to see if your data was part of the hack:
https://ashley.cynic.al/
This site below let’s you check your own email and will send a verification email:
http://www.trustify.info/check
Taking Action
It’s not easy to request removal from some of these websites, as they are protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and may refuse to remove a post once it has been made. In these situations, your only alternative is to proactively manage your reputation online. Only reputation management companies can effectively monitor every search engine for references about you.
For more details on the hacking, including a message from the hackers, click here.
