Who hacked Ashley Madison? Mysterious culprit exposed identities of over 37 MILLION cheaters - here's the scandalous inside story behind the high-profile security leak

In the early 2000s, dating site Ashley Madison, which helped married lovers cheat on their spouses, was at its peak - with over 37 million unfaithful users creating profiles in the hopes of hooking up with someone other than their partner.

However, it all came to a screeching halt in 2015 when a group who called themselves The Impact Team took matters into their own hands and claimed responsibility for hacking the affair site - causing every name that was signed up to be leaked.

The website, which was launched in 2001, promoted itself as an anonymous place for spouses looking to be unfaithful offering the chance to connect those wanting to cheat on their respective partners together.

But when the Impact Team came around, they demanded that the site be taken down - and, when it wasn't, the hackers released all the 37 million records of data from site onto the web for anyone to see. 

After a trove of data purporting to belong to the users was shared on the dark web, both police and Ashley Madison executives scrambled to find the tech wizards behind the Impact Team. 

In the early 2000s, dating site Ashley Madison, which helped married lovers cheat on their spouses, was at its peak

The site came crashing down in 2015 after it was hacked. One of the people whose details were made public by the scandal was YouTube star Sam Rader, who is pictured here with his wife Nia

The data dump exposed everyone from the man next door to TLC's Josh Duggar - who tainted his family's empire after it was revealed that he was arrested for possessing and receiving child pornography.

Because of the leak, marriages were destroyed and the world as many knew it was ruined, with some of the adulterers even ending their life after their misdemeanors became apparent. 

The state attorney in Florida was forced to resign and a pastor in New Orleans committed suicide. 

Netflix recently unearthed the scandal as it announced that it would be releasing a docuseries about those who got caught up in Ashley Madison's tagline, 'Life is short, have an affair.' 

The trailer for the three-part docuseries titled, Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies, And Scandal, was released on YouTube earlier this month - and the show is now available, having premiered on May 15. 

It featured one Christian YouTube couple who decided to stay together following the leak that exposed Sam Rader for cheating. 

And while the docuseries is set to detail the dirty details surrounding the affair site, information surrounding the hackers behind Ashley Madison is largely still a mystery.

Now, FEMAIL lifts the lid on all there is to know behind The Impact Team and the original suspected culprits. 

Who are the hackers behind the Ashley Madison leak? A deep dive into The Impact Team 

In 2015, a group who called themselves The Impact Team leaked a trove of private information surrounding Ashley Madison (a grab from the Netflix trailer seen)

In 2015, a group who called themselves The Impact Team leaked a trove of private information surrounding Ashley Madison. 

The data dump seemed to be motivated by the hackers taking a moral stand against the company's controversial purpose and its business practices. 

One month prior to the hack, The Impact Team claimed that they would hack the site if it was not shut down. 

The team followed through on their promise and soon enough a flood of information was shared on the dark web. 

Although little is known about the culprits, they seemed to have an issue with one of the features of the site. 

Why did The Impact Team reveal the secrets of over 37 million people? 

Ashley Madison was launched as a dating site for spouses looking to cheat in 2001 and told those who have tied the knot to embrace infidelity (Sam seen in the trailer for the docuseries)

The hackers seemed to have a problem with the delete feature on the site, which charged repentant cheaters $20 to completely scrub their information from Ashley Madison. 

In a statement released at the time of the hack, The Impact Team wrote: 'Full Delete netted ALM $1.7m in revenue in 2014. It's also a complete lie. Users almost always pay with credit card, their purchase details are not removed as promised, and include real name and address, which is of course the most important information the users want removed.

'Too bad for those men, they're cheating dirtbags and deserve no such discretion... Too bad for ALM, you promised secrecy but didn't deliver.' 

Following the explosive hack, the company revealed they were working alongside the FBI in hopes of finding the brains behind the incident. 

The company released a statement that read: 'We know that there are people out there who know one or more of these individuals, and we invite them to come forward.

'While we are confident that the authorities will identify and prosecute each of them to the fullest extent of the law, we also know there are individuals out there who can help to make this happen faster.' 

However, despite the investigation, no arrests were ever made and to this day, the police still have no leads when it comes to the who the hackers were. 

Who was the inside man that executives were convinced was behind the data breach? 

In 2015, hackers who called themselves the 'impact team,' stole 37 million records of data from the extramarital affair site - however, they were never found

At the time of the leak, the former CEO, Noel Biderman, pointed the finger at an insider - a former employee who went by the name of William Brewster Harrison. 

After getting fired from Ashley Madison in 2011, William began his hate-fueled campaign against the site. 

There were many allegations swirling around that William had sent a slew of hateful emails to Noel and had given company secrets to the media after being let go. 

And while people connected to Ashley Madison were convinced that William was behind the 2015 hack, there was only one issue - William died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 2014. 

Noel didn't find out about William's suicide until years later when he attempted to track him down. 

He was then met with William's stepmother who confirmed that he had died, according to Distractify.

She added: 'I’ve heard all those stories you just mentioned. Will was severely mentally ill. He was probably as close to a sociopath as I can imagine anyone being. He was also a paranoid schizophrenic who wouldn’t take his medication.'

And with that, the one lead was gone. Now, nearly a decade later police are still no closer to finding who the members of the group that hacked Ashley Madison.

Fans can now watch the Netflix docuseries on the streaming service to learn more about the shocking events that led up to and followed the explosive hack.