Adult Dating Website Hacked; Up to 4 Million Affected

Published

May 22, 2015

Bob Sullivan is author of the New York Times best-sellers Gotcha Capitalism and Stop Getting Ripped Off. His stories have appeared in The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and hundreds of other publications. He has appeared as a consumer advocate and technology expert numerous times on NBC's TODAY show, NBC Nightly News, CNBC, NPR's Marketplace, Terry Gross' Fresh Air, and various other radio and TV outlets. He helped start MSNBC.com and wrote there for nearly 20 years, most of it penning the consumer advocacy column The Red Tape Chronicles. See more at www.bobsullivan.net. Follow Bob Sullivan on Facebook or Twitter.

One of the Internet’s largest adult dating websites has suffered a major data breach, with up to 4 million members impacted, according to U.K. news station Channel 4, which broke the story. Victims face potential embarrassment or other serious repercussions in addition to the usual potential for identity theft.

AdultFriendFinder.com’s parent firm FriendFinder Networks Inc. confirmed to the BBC that it had been hacked and said it is working with law enforcement agencies and computer security forensics firm Mandiant. The firm said it would be unable to confirm other details at the moment.

Leaked data includes sexual preferences; users share sensitive sexual information when they sign up, and whether or not they are open to an extramarital affair, Channel 4 said. Even consumers who’d closed their accounts were caught up in the leak. So were at least some British government officials and members of the British Army, though the site did not elaborate.

AdultFriendFinder advertises itself aggressively online.

Channel 4 said it found the data — contained in 15 spreadsheets — as part of broader research into the “dark web,” where stolen data is bought and sold.

It doesn’t take much sensitive data for identity thieves to put together a scam or fraud scheme, so users should be on the lookout for any suspicious emails or other signs of identity theft.