Ashley Madison Data Leak Includes Boston City Hall Workers

By PATRICK LUCE (Patch Staff)

In July, a group known as Team Impact vowed to hack into AshleyMadison.com and release the data of its members, who log profiles on to the site to seek out extramarital affairs.

Team Impact succeeded this week, leaking hacked data from Ashley Madison and Established Men, both owned by AvidLife Media.

The files, according to Wired, included the information and log-ins for about 32 million users.

This hack, according to Boston Magazine, included at least five Boston City Hall email accounts used on Ashley Madison, and government domains from Newton, Framingham, Leominster, Norwood, Somerville and Lowell were also used. Boston Magazine also added that one user with a Boston Police Department address was used.

The Boston Business Journal reported that some 15,000 of the email records lead back to government workers and military personnel in the United States. At least 16, said the BBJ, showed an address carrying the “cityofboston.gov” domain. The FBI is investigating the breach.

Public debate has escalated on the subject, pitting arguers around the issues of extramarital affairs and online privacy and security.

It’s also making a lot of people very nervous, or spitefully content.

“I found my boss’s info in the Ashley Madison leak, and now I’m happier than a tornado in a trailer park,” Tweeted one on Thursday.

Another added, “I think it’s unethical to analyze the leaked Ashley Madison database for these reasons.”

Others are probably having some heated debates at home with their wives or husbands.