During a Monday press conference meant to give further information about the Ashley Madison hack currently shaking up marriages across the world, Toronto police began by passing out lyric sheets to the AC/DC hit song "Thunderstruck."
Before the hack had been made public, Ashley Madison employees entered the office on the morning of July 12 like it was any other day, but this time they were greeted by the raspy, strained voice of AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson. Hackers had taken over company computers and began blasting "Thunderstruck" throughout the office alongside a "threatening message" indicating the hackers would release the data of millions of Ashley Madison users.
.@TorontoPolice handing out lyrics to "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC before their #ashleymadisonhack presser...#karaoke? pic.twitter.com/LYff3YYdS1
— Phil Perkins (@PhilPerkinsCHCH) August 24, 2015
An analysis of the lyrics doesn't really provide a clear insight into the mind of the hackers nor a symbolic message in the lyrics. After all, the song is about a night of debauchery in Texas, which ends with whomever the protagonist is laying on some railroad tracks. Maybe Ashley Madison is meant to be the metaphorical person laying on the tracks and the train coming is the hackers. Maybe the users are the ones laying on the track after a night of partying and the train coming for them is the punishment for their adultery. On the other hand, perhaps the most likely explanation is that the hackers are just big AC/DC fans. "Thunderstruck" is a great song after all.
AC/DC had nothing to do with the hack, which has captured national attention by compromising the privacy of 33 million users who signed up on the dating site as a way to hook up with other married individuals. Allegedly, the hack has led to two suicides.
According to The Verge, hacking someone's computer in order to play music through there speakers isn't as hard as it might seems. There's actually an instruction manual of sorts online for how to recreate the hack.
Listen to the band's iconic song below or catch them on their first U.S. tour since 2010.
