Ashley Madison CEO Resigns
After leaked emails revealed that he too had engaged in extra-marital affairs — despite claiming he had not — the founder and CEO of Avid Life Media (ALM), parent company of AshleyMadison.com, resigned today. Records from Ashley Madison, a dating site that specializes in arranging extra-marital affairs, and its sister sites Cougar Life and Established Men were hit with a doxing attack that also exposed customer profiles and credit card data.
Attackers announced they’d breached the company and stolen its data last month, threatening to release it if Ashley Madison were not shut down. After the company continued to conduct business, attackers followed through with threats and posted the data to the dark web last week.
According to a statement released by the company: “Effective today, Noel Biderman, in mutual agreement with the company, is stepping down as Chief Executive Officer of Avid Life Media Inc, (ALM) and is no longer with the company. 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.”
“High profile breaches not only cost consumers their privacy but are more often also costing executives their jobs,” said Eric Chiu, president co-founder of HyTrust. “We have now seen the CEO and CIO of Target, director of the Office of Personnel Management, and now the CEO of Avid Life Media, parent company of Ashley Madison, lose their jobs after high profile attacks. Data breaches are a huge cost to organizations, including loss of trust, brand damage, lawsuits and business impact. Understanding and placing a high importance on security will be a key requirement moving forward for any executive in the connected world that we live in.”
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