Hackers publish online stolen personal details of millions

LONDON: Scientists working in a top secret defence laboratory in the UK and a female MP are among hundreds of public servants whose personal details have been published online as alleged users of an adultery website in a "serious breach" of government security.

Computer hackers gained access to the entire database of Ashley Madison, a dating website for people who want to have affairs, and posted the names of all 37 million users, including 1.2 million Britons, on the internet, The Telegraph reported.

Among them are 124 civil servants, 92 Ministry of Defence staff, around 50 police officers, 56 NHS workers, 65 local education and school staff and 1,716 people at universities and further education colleges.

The details also included addresses, ages, phone numbers, credit card details and even sexual fantasies of users, prompting calls for an urgent review of government security.

The data dump includes the details of two workers at the highly secret Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, spread across five sites but based at Porton Down in Wiltshire, which carries out research on chemical, biological and radiological weapons.