A website for cheating partners that encourages affairs has been hacked, and the hackers are plotting to reveal all the compromising user data including nude photos and sexual fantasies of participants. The site is called Ashley Madison, and while it is primarily a US and Canadian focused business, it has a British destination page and likely has plenty of European visitors registered. 

With its cheeky slogan of 'Life is short. Have an affair', Ashley Madison has tens of millions of users, all of whom could be feeling rather worried if the leak takes place. The hackers are trying to get the service shut down, rather than demanding money, but since the parent company is valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, that would seem unlikely.

Similar sites such as Adult FriendFinder have been hacked in the recent past, suggesting that anyone who registered for these type of quick date sites may be vulnerable to having their information leaked. That's even if they only signed up out of curiosity, or for a bit of fun. Certainly their better half is unlikely to see the funny side if such information is released to the public. 

When that happens, these type of hacks see journalists and peepers crawling all over the data to find local stories or bits of gossip. While being one of millions may seem like fair cover, if the information provided includes an identifying town or street, then it won't take long for someone to be tracked down. 

With more and more cheating taking place thanks to online services, infidelity investigations are increasingly using these services as a starting point, since most cheaters would like to find someone near to them. After that, it is down to traditional methods to try to catch cheating couples in the act. So, while the technology may be moving on, our private investigation service is still invaluable when it comes to finding evidence of infidelity. 

The owners of the site say they have since fixed its security, claiming a Trusted Security Award, but the news is likely to damage its reputation and perhaps make people think twice before exploring the options of an online affair.