Ashley Madison 2015 Data Breach
ObscureIQ Breach Intelligence
High SeverityWebsite / service breach
Ashley Madison Extramarital Affairs Platform Breach (2015): 38 Million User Records Including Real Names, Home Address & Payment History Exposed
Online dating service focused on discreet relationships.
Verified by ObscureIQ Intelligence
67/100Breach Risk Index
40Data Value
25Market Recency
439dSince Breach
Breach Intelligence Summary
Entity: Ashley Madison · Actor: Unknown · Sources: 8 references
Attack: Misconfiguration
Profile: Sensitive Relationship Platform · Extramarital and discreet relationship services · Discreet affairs platform · Global
Timeline: Breach (2015-07-19) · Indexed (Feb 12, 2025) · Year (2015)
Exposure: 38.4M records · 13 fields: Activity History, Date of Birth, Email Address, Ethnicity or Race, Full Name, Gender, Password, Phone Number, Physical Address, Security Q&A, Sexual Orientation, Transaction History, Username
Status: Confirmed
Executive Summary
Ashley Madison, an extramarital affairs dating platform operated by Toronto-based Ruby Corp. (then called Avid Life Media), was breached in July 2015 by a hacker collective calling itself The Impact Team. The attackers exploited security misconfigurations, including hardcoded credentials in the site's source code and the use of weak MD5 password hashing alongside stronger methods, allowing them to move through internal systems and extract more than 60 gigabytes of data. When the company refused their demand to shut down the platform, the attackers released the data publicly. Approximately 32 to 38 million user records were exposed. The exposed data included real names, home addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, sexual orientation, payment histories, security questions and answers, and detailed website activity. Because Ashley Madison was built around the premise of discretion for people seeking affairs, the combination of real identity and behavioral data was exceptionally sensitive. Affected individuals faced targeted extortion attempts, public exposure of private conduct, and severe personal consequences. Multiple suicides were documented and directly linked to the breach. Canadian and Australian regulators launched formal investigations. A CAD $578 million class action lawsuit was filed against the company. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission reached a settlement with Avid Life Media in 2016 that required the company to undergo independent security audits for 20 years. The company was also found to have operated fake female profiles to drive male user engagement. For anyone affected by this breach: do not pay extortion demands, as payment rarely stops further contact and may invite escalation. If you are in crisis, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.
ObscureIQ assessment: Extremely sensitive. Exposure enables extortion, reputational destruction, harassment, and identity linkage around affair-related activity.
Breach Impact
The data came out in July 2015. Names. Home addresses. Sexual orientation. Affair-seeking behavior. Real people, exposed. CEO Noel Biderman resigned within weeks. Canadian and Australian regulators opened investigations. A CAD $578 million class action was filed. The FTC settled with the company in 2016, requiring security audits for twenty years. Then there were the suicides. Documented. Linked directly to the exposure. Extortion campaigns followed. The company was also found to have run fake female accounts to drive male engagement. A decade on, this breach is still cited when people want to explain what harm looks like when sensitive relationship data gets out.
About Ashley Madison
Ashley Madison is a dating service built around one premise: that people in relationships want to meet other people in relationships. Ruby Corp., a Toronto company formerly called Avid Life Media, runs the platform. It operates in more than 50 countries. It has tens of millions of registered users. The business model is credits-based. The promise is discretion.
Why They Hold Your Data
Discreet affairs platforms collect highly sensitive account data, profile details, messages, sexual-interest signals, payment-adjacent records, and relationship-intent activity tied to extramarital behavior.
Recent Developments
The 2015 breach broke something the company couldn't fully repair. Avid Life Media rebranded as Ruby Corp. in 2016. The old name was too heavy to carry. Leadership turned over. The platform kept running. By 2025, the company describes its membership as growing. It says little else publicly.
Data Points Exposed
13 verified field types
Activity History
Date of Birth High
Email Address
Ethnicity or Race High
Full Name High
Gender
Password Critical
Phone Number
Physical Address High
Security Q&A Critical
Sexual Orientation High
Transaction History High
Username
Field names are shown in full for clarity and search visibility. Canonical machine keys are emitted only in this page’s structured data.
Exploitation & Downstream Threats
Threat Activity:Critical
Primary downstream threats:
- Credential stuffing against reused passwords across other platforms
- Identity verification bypass using name + date of birth combination
- SIM swap attacks where phone numbers are present
- Targeted phishing campaigns using exposed email addresses
- Doxxing risk from physical address exposure
Threat vectors:
- Behavioural profiling & blackmail
- Identity verification bypass
- Phishing, credential stuffing & account takeover
- Discriminatory targeting & hate crime enablement
- Name-based social engineering
- Profile enrichment
- Credential stuffing & account takeover
- SIM swapping, vishing & SMS phishing
- Physical stalking, mail fraud & identity verification
- Home targeting, stalking & physical threat
- Account recovery hijacking
- Outing, blackmail & targeted violence
- Extortion & fraud
- Cross-platform tracking & credential stuffing
Recommended Actions
If you believe your information may be included:
Change Reused Passwords
Update this account and anywhere you reused the password; use a manager.
Enable MFA Everywhere
Turn on multi-factor authentication on email first, then financial accounts.
Report & Recover
If you spot misuse, start an official recovery plan and report fraud.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened in the Ashley Madison breach?▾
Ashley Madison, an extramarital affairs dating platform operated by Toronto-based Ruby Corp. (then called Avid Life Media), was breached in July 2015 by a hacker collective calling itself The Impact Team. The attackers exploited security misconfigurations, including hardcoded credentials in the…
What data was exposed?▾
Verified fields include Activity History, Date of Birth, Email Address, Ethnicity or Race, Full Name, Gender, Password, Phone Number, Physical Address, Security Q&A, Sexual Orientation, Transaction History, Username.
What should I do if I was affected?▾
Change reused passwords, enable MFA, and (if identity or financial data is involved) freeze your credit and monitor your accounts.
Sources & References
Every claim on this page is traceable. This breach draws on:
Breach Index
Breach Index
Cross-source
9ghz
Cross-source
BreachForums_Official_Index
Cross-source
DataViper.io
Cross-source
LeakBase.pw
Cross-source
leakfind
ObscureIQ Intelligence
ObscureIQ proprietary analysis
Protect Yourself
Check If You're Affected
Enter your email to check whether your data appears in this breach. We’ll send a 6-digit code to confirm it’s your address.
Get Free Breach Alerts
Be the first to know when new breaches are disclosed. Free forever — confirm your email with a 6-digit code.
High-Risk? Get an Exposure Audit
Executives, public figures, and high-visibility operators can receive tailored exposure intelligence and hardening guidance.
Request Consultation