Can hackers remove your personal details from the Ashley Madison data dump?

THOSE caught up in the Ashley Madison scandal are going to great lengths to remove their personal information from the huge data dump. But will this actually work?

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 19: In this photo illustration, a man visits the Ashley Madison website on August 19, 2015 in London, England. Hackers who stole customer information from the cheating site AshleyMadison.com dumped 9.7 gigabytes of data to the dark web on Tuesday fulfilling a threat to release sensitive information including account details, log-ins and credit card details, if Avid Life Media, the owner of the website didn't take Ashley Madison.com offline permanently. (Photo illustration by Carl Court/Getty Images)

AS more data is dumped from the Ashley Madison hack, a number of nervous users from the extramarital dating website are scrambling to cover their tracks.

One user caught up in the scandal is willing to part ways with $2000 if anyone can remove all traces of their personal information from the leaked data.

Writing on the hacker-for-hire marketplace known as Hacker’s List, the user tried to justify their need to have their information removed.

“For what it is worth, I did not cheat, going through a tough time right now, but this is a wakeup call,” the post read. “Need a skilled hacker to remove my information from wherever it appears as soon as possible. Please help.”

The ad posted on the Hacker’s list.

It’s not just people searching for hackers to do their dirty work either.

Seeing the profit to be made from the misery of others, an anonymous hacker has offered their skills for sale with a New York Craigslist advertisement.

The hacker claims to be able to remove emails and other personal information from the internet.

“I’ve been in computer security and networking for 12 years,” the post read. “Very knowledgeable when it comes to computer privacy.

“Contact me and I can get your information removed the list of names released. Rates vary.”

A screenshot of the ad placed on Craigslist.

However, those getting excited about the prospect of having their details removed from the leaked data should not get their hopes up.

According to security researcher Troy Hunt, it will be almost impossible for anyone to effectively remove personal details by this point in time.

“Unfortunately that’s simply not possible — once information has been sufficiently socialised and redistributed (which the Ashley Madison data has certainly been), the exposure is irretrievable,” he wrote on his blog.

“At this point it is better to focus on damage control — consider the impact of your Ashley Madison membership being known by everyone and what actions you might take in order to minimise the impact (i.e. discussing with a spouse).”

Those caught up in the scandal may benefit from downloading the file to see what personal information has been leaked.

Lachlan Jarvis, owner of Lyonswood Private Investigations and Forensic Group, agreed that people should be looking at damage control, instead of wasting time trying to remove their data from the internet.

“Once the cats out of the bag, it’s unlikely the information can be removed,” he told news.com.au

“Their key focus should now be trying to find out what information of theirs was on the website and how this could be used against them.”

Mr Jarvis said while entire credit information was not stored by the website, potential fraudsters could still use personal details for identity theft.

“Cyber criminals could use your data to create accounts with finical institutions, to create fake social media profiles or even set up fake companies under your name,” he said.

If you have been exposed in the scandal, Mr Jarvis has a number of suggestions for protecting yourself:

— Contact your bank to let them know of your situation and also contact other financial institutions to ensure no one sets up accounts using your details

— Contact any relevant Government organisations to let them know of the possible security breach

— Have a look at what other data you are currently sharing online that hackers could use to add to their profile of you

— Check Facebook for any profiles that have been built using your details

— Periodically perform Google searches of yourself to search for possible defamation

— Consider completely closing down your social media accounts for the immediate future