Editorial: Adultery site hack a threat to everyone

The hacking of Ashley Madison has widespread and unpalatable implications. Photo / Getty Images

Some might cheer Ashley Madison breach, but it shows even ordinary people can be hit and hurt by the cyber-zealots.

Some people would say those identified by the unprecedented data breach of adultery website Ashley Madison got what they deserved. So, too, those who came up with the idea. This, after all, was a website that not only facilitated cheating but strongly encouraged it through its slogan "Life is short, have an affair". Millions worldwide were seduced by the prospect, including an estimated 22,000 New Zealanders.

Now, with their names, addresses, emails and information about their sexual penchants in the public arena, they face the task of salvaging marriages, relationships and reputations. In many cases, that will surely prove impossible.

But those inclined to gloat should think twice. The hacking of Ashley Madison has widespread and unpalatable implications. Once, only celebrities and politicians had reason to fear breaches of internet privacy.

Now, however, we have entered territory in which John and Janet Citizen can suffer the same fate, even though they also have broken no law.

All stand to be the victims of illegal hackers who wish to expose something that, in their eyes, is beyond the pale.

A cybergroup called the Impact Team was morally opposed to the activities of Toronto-based Ashley Madison. It described men who used the website as "cheating dirtbags". This week, it released files containing what appear to be the sensitive and confidential details of 37 million user accounts. Inevitably, the first port of call when these were examined was politicians and celebrities. In that, at least, nothing changed. One address, purporting to be of John Key, was clearly fake. Another carried the name of Scottish Nationalist Party MP Michelle Thomson, but she said it featured an old email address and she had never visited the website.

But next in line for exposure were the many ordinary people who expected total privacy when they logged themselves and their details on to Ashley Madison.

That guarantee was vital because they knew that exposure of what they were up to would, at the very least, be extremely embarrassing and, at the worst, torpedo a current relationship. Now, they have been named and shamed on an ideological whim.

The Impact Team has, in effect, declared itself the moral judge and executioner of people pursuing affairs for whatever reason. No context for an individual's use of the website is available. The information has been released in a totally indiscriminate manner.

In this instance, there will be no shortage of supporters. But a culture of public shaming based on the whims of those ready, willing and able to hack websites is not a path that a modern society should tread. It opens the door for people with utterly reprehensible ideologies to leak data that, unequivocally, should not be made public.

This episode sends another simple message about modern technology. Already, many people have learned to their cost that emails are not secure. Now, putting potentially embarrassing personal information on an internet site has become perilous. The hacking of Ashley Madison indicates there is no certainty it will not become public knowledge. This was, after all, a business that, far more than most, needed to respect its clients' privacy. It failed, and the world will never again look at the internet in quite the same way.