More information and analysis and theories here from more or less reliable Global News.
I think it's interesting that the hackers are willing to assert that 95% of the female accounts are made up, but not that any percentage of the male accounts are. I dunno. I've looked at a couple pastes and they don't contain what the media purports they contain. This whole thing seems... concocted to me. My theory? Former Ashley Madison employee has the keys to the kingdom and blackmailed Ashley Madison about releasing the data. Ashley Madison isn't all that worried because most of their data is fiction. It's like Reddit - nobody gives a shit about it if it's got 800,000 users. 8 million? ZOMG. Better give them $50m in case they ever come up with a profit. I mean, this is just reaching: OTTOWA?But Ashley Madison members might not necessarily be cheating. The federal government employee who spoke to Global News suggested the highly-educated people in Ottawa might be more open-minded and willing to talk about open relationships.