Ashley Madison CEO Steps Down In Wake Of Hacking Scandal

Less than two weeks after hackers published two big data dumps full of material stolen from Ashley Madison, a dating website for cheaters, its parent company Avid Life Media announced that effective today, CEO Noel Biderman will be stepping down from his position and is no longer with the company.

In the wake of Biderman’s departure — which happened “in mutual agreement” with Avid — the company says it’ll be led by the existing senior management team.

“This change is in the best interest of the company and allows us to continue to provide support to our members and dedicated employees,” Avid says in a statement. “We are steadfast in our commitment to our customer base.”

In the first AshleyMadison.com data dump on Aug. 19, hackers released 10GB worth of information, affecting up to 30 million of the site’s users. Avid initially suggested that the dump was a fake (though it’s since been shown to be real), which might have prompted the second, even larger data dump of 19GB worth of information on Aug. 20. That also included 13GB worth of email that was apparently both from and to Biderman.

“We are actively adjusting to the attack on our business and members’ privacy by criminals. We will continue to provide access to our unique platforms for our worldwide members,” Avid says in the statement, adding that the company is cooperating with international law enforcement to find those responsible for the hack.

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist