Ashley Madison, the infidelity website that helps pair those looking to have an affair, is offering CA$500,000 (About $379,000 USD) to anyone who can provide information that leads to the arrest of the hackers responsible for leaking personal information about its users.
Earlier this month, a group of hackers that call themselves the Impact Life hackers, posted the email addresses of more than 30 million Ashley Madison users, as well as credit card information, on the internet. Last week, the hackers published an even bigger pile of data, which the company acknowledged in a statement last week.
While the Toronto-based company remained vague regarding the authenticity of the data leaked last week, the $379,000 bounty sure seems to confirm its legitimacy.
The reward was announced on Monday by Bryce Evans, the superintendent of the Toronto police. Evans said that two people who had their data leaked have reportedly taken their lives, according to the BBC. He also pleaded for help from an unlikely crowd: hackers.
“To the hacking community, who engage in discussions on the Dark Web, and who no doubt have information that can assist us in this investigation, we are also appealing to you to do the right thing. To acknowledge this has caused enormous social and economic folly. You know the Impact Team has crossed the line. Do the right thing and reach out to us,” Evans said.
Offering rewards for finding security vulnerabilities is common among tech companies. But Ashley Madison’s bounty is pretty significant compared to the cash awards that are granted for spotting security bugs.
Google offers $500 to $50,000 to security researchers who help find bugs in Chrome and Microsoft pays up to $100,000 for some of its bounty programs. Facebook paid out a total of $1.3 million to 321 researchers around the world in 2014, with the average being about $1,788.
