After hackers had stolen user data from the popular dating website Asley Madison in July, the criminals now published 9.7 gigabytes of that data on what is known as the dark web. According to Wired, who were first to report the incident, the files included account details of roughly 32 million users, making the attack one of the larger data breaches in recent history.
Over the past few years, as consumers started sharing information with more and more websites, large-scale data breaches have become a worryingly common occurrence. Just last year, eBay had to ask 145 million users to change their passwords, after the company's database had been successfully attacked by hackers.
In the case of Ashley Madison, the potential damage to the affected users could be particularly spicy. After all, the dating platform considers itself "the most famous name in infidelity" and specializes in extramarital affairs.
Large-Scale Data Breaches Affect Millions of Users
Description
This chart shows how many data records have been compromised in some of the most prominent examples of data theft in recent years.
