Yes, cheating on your spouse is bad, and yes, the companies that own Ashley Madison should have done a better job of protecting the information of its users, but neither of these things deter from the fact that the hackers themselves have done something illegal and have potentially ruined the lives of millions of people. That’s why the companies that own Ashley Madison are now offering a $380,000 for anyone who can help identify the hackers and get them arrested.
As the Ashley Madison hackers slip back into the shadows, the Canadian company at the center of the incident has offered a CDN$500,000 (about $380,000) reward for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators. Toronto-based Avid Life Media, which operates a number of sites alongside Ashley Madison, announced the reward on Monday as news broke of two suicides that may have resulted from last week’s massive leak of members’ personal information. Speaking at a news conference, acting staff superintendent Bryce Evans of the Toronto police, said, “Today, I can confirm that Avid Life Media is offering a CDN$500,000 reward to anyone providing information that leads to the identification, arrest, and prosecution of the person or persons responsible for the leak of the Ashley Madison database.” Directly addressing those responsible, Evans said, “I want to make it very clear to you your actions are illegal and we will not be tolerating them. This is your wake-up call.”
