Dissection of a hack

Source: John McAfee: Ashley Madison database stolen by lone female who worked for Avid Life Media

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Today, I can confidently claim that the single person is a woman, and has recently worked within Avid Life Media. I have provided IBTimes UK background information and pertinent elements of the woman's data dump to prove both my access to the data and also to confirm elements of my research, under the strict conditions that it is to be referenced and then destroyed. The data I provided included such delicate material as the decoded password hash tables of every Avid Life and Ashley Madison employee, which I have also now destroyed.

How did I come to this conclusion? Very simply. I have spent my entire career in the analysis of cybersecurity breaches, and can recognise an inside job 100% of the time if given sufficient data - and 40GB is more than sufficient. I have also practiced social engineering since the word was first invented and I can very quickly identify gender if given enough emotionally charged words from an individual. The perpetrator's two manifestos provided that. In short, here is how I went about it.
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When I read about some system compromise, I'm always disappointed at how long it takes for the root cause to come out. Ultimately, it seems to come down to 'social engineering'. In the case of the recent Federal breach, someone sent and e-mail asking for passwords . . . AND GOT THEM!

Oh well,
Bob Wilson