The Ashley Madison data leak is unquestionably the most high-profile IT security event of the last year, and members of the website face serious repercussions. Ashley Madison advertises as “the world’s leading married dating service for discreet encounters,” but that discretion was compromised as hackers released about 30 gigabytes of user data, including email addresses, names, and even GPS coordinates (likely collected from mobile users).
The leaked information came from a MySQL database, and many of the fields are fairly self-explanatory. “eye_color,” for instance, gives the user’s eye color (as input by the user when signing up for an Ashley Madison profile). For many accounts, some fields are left blank.
Credit card information is stored in a separate area, and most hackers will not be able to definitively link usernames with payment information. Furthermore, the leak did not contain complete credit card numbers, so payment information should be safe; even so, we would advise Ashley Madison users to contact their card providers and request a re-issued credit or debit card.
The Ashley Madison database contains the following fields—
Table: aminno_member_email
| Field | Description |
| pnum | The record’s primary key. |
| The account email address. | |
| isvalid | |
| html | |
| optin | Whether or not the user opts in to the Ashley Madison newsletter. |
| notify_newmail | |
| notify_newmember | |
| notify_login | |
| notify_offer |
Table: member_details
| pnum | The record’s primary key. |
| eye_color | User’s eye color. |
| hair_color | User’s hair color. |
| dob | User’s date of birth. |
| profile_caption | User-generated caption, visible on account profile. |
| profile_ethnicity | User’s self-identified ethnicity, expressed as a number. |
| profile_weight | User’s weight, visible on profile. |
| profile_height | User’s height, visible on profile. |
| profile_bodytype | User’s body type, expressed as a number. |
| profile_smoke | Whether or not the user smokes. Visible on profile. |
| profile_drink | User’s drinking status. Visible on profile. |
| profile_initially_seeking | Type of relationship user is initially seeking, visible on profile. |
Table: member_login
| pnum | The record’s primary key. |
| username | User’s username. |
| password | User’s password (these are encrypted). |
| loginkey | Login keys are unique to each user, authenticating the user for logout. |
| notify |
Table: am_am_member
| id | User id number. |
| createdon | Date and time the account was created. |
| createdby | User who created the account. |
| updatedon | Date and time (to second) the account was last updated. |
| updatedby | User who updated the account. |
| admin | Whether or not the user has administrative status in the system. |
| status | User’s relationship status. |
| account_type | Type of account. |
| membership_status | User’s membership status. |
| ad_source | Tracks site advertising. |
| profile_number | User’s profile number. |
| nickname | User’s nickname. |
| first_name | User’s first name |
| last_name | User’s last name. |
| street1 | User’s street address. |
| street2 | Second line of user’s street address (if applicable). |
| city | City listed in user’s address. |
| zip | Zipcode listed in user’s address. |
| state | State listed in user’s address. |
| latitude | User’s location latitude. |
| longitude | Longitude of user’s location. |
| country | User’s country of residence. |
| phone | User’s primary phone number. |
| work_phone | User’s work phone number . |
| mobile_phone | User’s mobile phone number. |
| gender | User’s gender. |
| dob | User’s date of birth. |
| profile_caption | User-generated caption, visible on account profile. |
| profile_ethnicity | User’s self-identified ethnicity, expressed as a number. |
| profile_weight | User’s weight, visible on profile. |
| profile_height | User’s height, visible on profile. |
| profile_bodytype | User’s body type, expressed as a number. |
| profile_smoke | Whether or not user reports smoking. |
| profile_drink | Whether or not user reports drinking. |
| profile_initially_seeking | What the user is initially seeking, expressed as a number. |
| profile_relationship | User’s relationship status, expressed as a number. |
| pref_opento | Type of experience the user says he or she is willing to try (or “open to”), listed as numbers. |
| pref_opento_other | What the user hopes a match will be open to |
| pref_opento_abstract | User-written statement of what the user is willing to participate in. |
| pref_turnsmeon | Items that the user says he or she is interested in. Expressed in numbers. |
| pref_turnsmeon_other | List of things that the user wants a match to be interested in. Expressed in numbers. |
| pref_turnsmeon_abstract | Written description of the user’s “turn-ons.” |
| pref_lookingfor | Attributes the user is looking for in a match/dating experience. |
| pref_lookingfor_other | List of attributes the user hopes a match is looking for. |
| pref_lookingfor_abstract | User’s description of a preferred match. |
| main_photo | User’s uploaded photo. |
| security_question | User’s security question. |
| security_answer | Answer to user’s security question. |
This is a complete list of all of the fields in the MySQL portion of the database. However, several of the fields use numerical codes to indicate a selection from the user. “profile_relationship” specifies the relationship status of the user as follows:
1: “Attached Female Seeking Male”
2: “Attached Male Seeking Female”
3: “Single Male Seeking Female”
4: “Single Female Seeking Male”
5: “Male Seeking Male”
6: “Female Seeking Female”
The “pref_opento” field contains a number that correlates to one of the following:
1: “Threesome”
3: “Being Dominant/Master”
4: “Being Submissive/Slave”
6: “Bondage”
7: “Conventional Sex”
11: “Fetishes”
14: “Nothing Kinky”
15: “One-Night Stands”
17: “Role Playing”
18: “Sex Talk”
19: “Spanking”
21: “Experimenting with Tantric Sex”
22: “Transvestitism”
23: “Experimenting with Sex Toys”
23: “Exploring with Sex Toys”
26: “Aggressiveness”
27: “Blindfolding”
28: “Bubble Bath for 2”
29: “Cuddling & Hugging”
30: “Curious – Domination”
31: “Curious – Submission”
32: “Dressing Up/Lingerie”
33: “Erotic Movies”
34: “Erotic Tickling”
36: “Extended Foreplay/Teasing”
37: “Gentleness”
38: “Good With Your Hands”
39: “Kissing”
40: “Light Kinky Fun”
41: “Likes to be Watched/Exhibitionism”
42: “Likes to Give Oral Sex”
43: “Likes to Receive Oral Sex”
44: “Likes to Go Slow”
45: “Lots of Stamina”
46: “Open to Experimentation”
48: “Sensual Massage”
49: “Sharing Fantasies”
50: “Someone I Can Teach”
51: “Someone Who Can Teach Me”
52: “You Like to Cross Dress”
The “looking for” section also contains a number that correlates to the following:
1: “A Don Juan”
4: “Sense of Humor”
6: “Aggressive/Take Charge Nature”
9: “Average Sex Drive”
10: “Confidence”
11: “Discretion/Secrecy”
12: “Dislikes Routine”
14: “Good Personal Hygiene”
16: “Has a Secret Love Nest”
17: “High Sex Drive”
18: “Imagination”
19: “Likes Routine”
30: “A Professional/Well Groomed”
31: “Stylish/Classy”
32: “Casual Jeans/T-shirt Type”
33: “Tattoos”
34: “Body Piercing”
35: “BBW”
36: “Full Size Body”
37: “Muscular/Fit Body”
38: “Petite Figure”
39: “Slim to Average Body”
40: “Tall Height”
41: “Short Height”
42: “Long Hair”
43: “Short Hair”
44: “Girl Next Door”
45: “Naughty Girl”
46: “Bad Boy”
47: “Boy Next Door”
48: “Creative and Adventurous”
49: “Relaxed and Easy Going”
50: “Hopeless Romantic”
51: “A Father Figure”
52: “Not Possessive”
53: “A Good Listener”
54: “Good Communicator”
55: “Disease Free”
56: “Drug Free”
57: “Casual/Social Drinker”
58: “Seeking a Sugar Baby”
59: “Seeking a Sugar Daddy”
60: “Natural Breasts”
61: “Facial Hair”
62: “Tall, Dark and Handsome”
Datarecovery.com offers computer forensics services, which can help to verify the presence (or non-presence) of an individual’s information in the Ashley Madison leak. Given the nature of this leak, we offer this service exclusively to victims — not to spouses or other individuals. For more information, speak with a computer forensics expert by calling 1-800-237-4200.
