Noel Biderman, founder and CEO of Ashley Madison, has stepped down following the recent hacks.
The news comes in the form of a short statement by Ashley Madison’s parent company Avid Life Media [ALM], which says it will be run by ‘existing senior executives’ while it searches for a permanent leader.
As for why the change, ALM would only say that it was made in the company’s best interests to support its existing members and employees. It also reiterated it is working with law enforcement to apprehend the hackers behind the Ashley Madison attack, who call themselves the Impact Team.
The infidelity network was breached a little over a week ago, and the hackers have slowly been releasing information stolen from the company’s archives. The first leak – about 10 GB of data – included emails, member profiles, credit card information and more from almost all of the site’s members.
Subsequent leaks released a batch of personal emails by company top executives, including plans to create a new app called ‘What’s Your Wife Worth,’ in which users placed a monetary value on eachother’s spouses.
Clearly, it hasn’t been a good couple of weeks for Biderman. Here’s the full statement by ALM:
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. Until the appointment of a new CEO, the company will 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. We are steadfast in our commitment to our customer base.
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.
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.
➤ Statement from Avid Life Media [Avid Life Media]
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