The chief executive of Avid Life Media Inc., the company that owns infidelity website Ashley Madison has stepped down, weeks after hackers made public information of its 37 million subscribers and with the firm facing lawsuits for allegdly failing to protect its customers.
Citing a statement on Ashley Madison, The Guardian reported that Noel Biderman has stepped down from the company, which will be led by its senior management team until a replacement CEO is found.
"This change is in the best interest of the company and allows us to continue to provide support to our members and dedicated employees. We are steadfast in our commitment to our customer base," the company said in a statement in another report on USA Today.
USA Today added that Avid Life is cooperating with authorities and beefing up security in light of the attack.
The company is facing lawsuits in the United States and Canada from users who said the company did not do enough to protect sensitive information. Law enforcement agencies in both countries said users have reported receiving blackmail threats and are investigating suicides allegedly related to the disclosure of information.
Earlier this month, a hacking group that calls itself the Impact Team released on the Internet private information that include email addresses, credit card numbers and contact details of the site's 37 million users. The hackers had threatened to disclose the information if the website, which has the tagline: Life is short. Have an affair, is not shutdown. The Toronto-based company has offered a reward for information about the hackers.
The Guardian noted that Biderman has been silent throughout the incident, with much of the information coming from police and the security blogger that broke the story.
The report added that the hackers have also released a third set of information that contain emails from Biderman's work account that seem to show the former CEO had engaged in affairs despite previously saying he never had.
