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CEO of Ashley Madison Parent Steps Down

DOW JONES & COMPANY, INC. 10:49 AM ET 08/28/15


Avid Life Media Inc., the parent company of infidelity website Ashley Madison, said Friday that its chief executive had left the company by mutual agreement.

The move came just days after authorities in the U.S. and Canada, where Avid Life is based, launched a probe to track down those responsible for hacking the Ashley Madison site and related extortion attempts.

Noel Biderman's departure "is in the best interest of the company and allows us to continue to provide support to our members and dedicated employees," the company said in a statement.

Mr. Biderman wasn't immediately available for comment.

Avid Life said the company will be led by its existing management team until it names a new chief executive.

Last week, hackers belonging to the group The Impact Team dumped nearly 10 gigabytes of data stolen from Avid Life. The data included sensitive information, including Ashley Madison customers' names, email addresses and credit-card details.

Toronto police have said they are investigating two suicides with potential links to the leaked data. They also said this week that they had confirmed cases of extortion of Ashley Madison clients, in which the clients were threatened with exposure unless they paid 300 Canadian dollars (US$227). The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security are assisting Toronto police.

"We are actively cooperating with international law enforcement in an effort to bring those responsible for the theft of proprietary member and business information to justice," Avid Life Media said Friday.

Avid Life has offered a C$500,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the hackers responsible for stealing and leaking the data. Ashley Madison has 33 million registered users in more than 40 countries and special administrative regions, including Israel, Japan, Hong Kong and Turkey, according to Avid Life's website. The company says it has 5 million additional users registered on other dating websites it owns, such as Established Men and Cougar Life.

Because Avid Life Media is privately held, it is difficult to verify the company's user base, revenue and profit figures.

Write to David George-Cosh at [e-mail]

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
08-28-151049ET
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