Ashley Madison Data; That's not the issue

The Ashley Madison leak seems to have gripped the nation's interest.  We gawk and joke and pass judgement with such ease, it reminds me of a time before we were dominated by being politically correct.  But that's not the issue.  We paint a facade and romanticize aspects we find socially acceptable, as if we are even capable of having any true moral ambiguity, while chastising people that are more honest in their intent.  People using AM are honest in their intention; sexual encounter.  People going out to bars and night clubs are generally clear in their intentions; sexual encounter.  People using online dating sites romanticize their intentions, but be clear they're looking for a mate.... yes, looking to mate.   But that's not the issue.  It's all the same.  I've paid my share of covers at bars (non-refundable) in my time only to leave 10 minutes later.  There's no difference.  Guys pay for sex.  If you find that profound, you should try to elevate your thinking and take a look at how the world really works.  Now if your immediate assumption led you to a prostitute, you're narrow minded in your thinking or just naive.  While, yes, that is very true, not everything is monetary or can be quantified.  But that's not the issue.

I am just as guilty as everyone else; I talk and I'm curious.  Yet, I found myself turning off a security-based podcast from people I follow closely because after 35 minutes, they were still laughing and joking about people's lives and how stupid they were.  For some reason, this bothered me, yet it's the exact same thing everyone else, including myself has been doing all week.  I claim to have no higher moral bindings that anyone else, so this gossip doesn't bother me at all.  It's what we do.  It seems we're all curious who's on the list.  I can only guess it's because we love secrets.  But this isn't the issue.

In grand fashion as we Americans love to do, we take a breach of privacy and focus on the data, not the events behind the data.  The issue is the leak, not the data and certainty NOT what people were doing or not doing.  Regardless of your beliefs on what people should, or shouldn't do with their lives, as a security professional, privacy is something we're supposed to take very seriously.  We've enacted laws that, in effect, means that you could literally fall seriously ill, and not of one your coworkers would know to be concerned unless you personally told them of the illness.

The issue is the breach, the theft, and the loss of trust.  We're all entitled to privacy.   

Remember, privacy is a human right. We really don't need to explain why it is needed. - TED Radio Hour episode, The End Of Privacy,Mikko Hyppönen

 Let's shift our focus to the details behind the breach; how it happened and lessons learned.