AP TELEVISION

San Francisco, California - Aug. 20, 2015

1. Reporter looks at Ashley Madison site on computer

2. Soundbite: Brandon Bailey, Associated Press Technology Writer

"So the hackers claim that they are dumping information on something like 35 million customer accounts."

3. Screen showing AP story on government employees using website

4. Soundbite: Brandon Bailey, Associated Press Technology Writer

"My colleagues in the Associated Press Washington bureau have found hundreds of US government employees that were using this site. And they confirmed that some of those people were in pretty sensitive jobs in the Department of Justice and Homeland Security. And of course the concern there is that those people could be vulnerable to blackmail."

5. Ashley Madison logo and slogan

6. Soundbite: Brandon Bailey, Associated Press Technology Writer

"It is the kind of information that is embarassing, salacious and could potentially ruin marriages or careers even. And in that sense it could be a very damaging breach."

7. Screen showing AP story on potential lawsuits

8. Soundbite: Brandon Bailey, Associated Press Technology Writer

"It's clear that the company will probably face lawsuits. This may also hurt their business since part of their selling point was that they offered discretion and privacy and a safe place to have extramarital affairs."

9. Screen showing Ashley Madison home page

10. Soundbite: Brandon Bailey, Associated Press Technology Writer

"For the average person or consumer, it's clear that anything you put online is potentially vulnerable to being stolen or leaked. And therefore you should be careful about what you put online and who you deal with online."

11. Brandon Bailey working at desk

The data breach affecting customers of the Ashley Madison website may be salacious, embarrassing or even ruinous for those involved. But it's only the latest, and not the biggest, high-profile breach of customer or employee data reported in recent years.

Hackers say they've posted account information for some 35 million customers of the Ashley Madison service, which promises opportunities for extramarital affairs. That includes names, email addresses, phone numbers and birth dates, and at least partial credit card information, such as the last four digits of account numbers.

An Associated Press analysis has found that hundreds of U.S. government employees used Internet connections in their federal offices to access and pay membership fees to the cheating website.

They include some with sensitive jobs in the White House, Congress and law enforcement agencies.

Ashley Madison's parent company, Toronto-based Avid Life Media Inc., released a statement calling the hackers criminals. It added that law enforcement in both the U.S. and Canada is investigating and declined comment beyond its statement Tuesday that it was investigating the hackers' claims.