Suicides And Extortion Linked To Ashley Madison Data Hack.

Two people in Canada with personal information allegedly associated with the Ashley Madison Data Hack are reported to have committed suicide as a result of the leak from the adultery website. Toronto police’s acting staff Superintendent, Bryce Evans, said on Monday morning, that while the deaths were as yet unconfirmed, fallout from the Ashley Madison hack had already led to extortion attempts.

The “Impact Team,” the group of hackers responsible for the hack and subsequent release of over 33 million users’ details, had accused Ashley Madison of operational incompetence, deceit, and gaining “profits on the pain of others.” The hackers broke into Ashley Madison’s website in July, and stole the information then, giving Ashley Madison a month to close down site. Ashley Madison did not comply with the order.

“This is affecting all of us,” said Bryce. “The social impact behind this leak. We’re talking about families, we’re talking about children, we’re talking about wives, their male partners.” Evans also stated that there have been several confirmed attempts by criminal fraternities to extort and expose Ashley Madison clients unless money was handed over.

Avid Life Media, Ashley Madison’s Canadian based parent company has offered a $378k reward for information on the hackers, but so far there have been no takers.

In Texas, on Thursday, a police Captain also allegedly committed suicide. It is not known whether the fact that his email address was among those found in the data leak, was a factor in the reports that he took his own life.

Newly released information from the Impact Team last week also released internal emails between Ashley Madison staff at the highest level, implying that AshleyMadsion was not averse to hacking into rival websites itself.

The adultery website is also set to face a barrage of lengthy and costly law suits in the near future from angry customers. Divorce lawyers will probably be paid first however.