Barely a week after the ruckus about Ashley Madison's data dump, the infidelity website's chief executive officer, Noel Biderman, is stepping down. According to a statement released by Avid Life Media on Aug. 28, the decision is a "mutual agreement" between the company and its former CEO.
Avid Life Media further notes that the current senior management team will continue leading the company until a new CEO is appointed.
As per Forbes, last month, an army of hackers called The Impact Team attacked the cheating website, warning Avid Life Media to take down Ashley Madison and its sister site, Established Men, or the team will publish the company's user data. However, Avid Life Media did not follow the terms and on Aug. 18, the hackers dumped millions of data online.
“We have explained the fraud, deceit, and stupidity of ALM and their members. Now everyone gets to see their data,” the Impact Team said in a statement.
According to Hindustantimes, the leaked data exposed a lot of controversial customers who signed up for Ashley Madison's services such as U.K. civil servants, U.S. government officials and company executives. One of them is Josh Duggar, who registered not only one but two accounts. Duggar reportedly spent almost $1,000 for infidelity services, as per a previous report from Latinos Post.
NZ Herald notes that The Impact Team stole the personal details of 37 million customers, including their addresses, contact numbers, ages, credit card details and sexual fantasies.
In the statement, Avid Life Media said that Biderman's exit "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."
A separate report from Forbes explained how Ashley Madison's owner and biggest shareholder, Jason DeZwirek hinted the possibility of Biderman being fired from his CEO post. DeZwirek reportedly forwarded an email to the former CEO, which contained a link to an article about "how CEOs risk being fired in the wake of breaches." Biderman noted to colleagues that the message behind DezWirek's email was "pretty subtle."
"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," the company adds.
The statement further notes that Avid Life Media is working with international law forces to catch the hackers that exposed the millions of men using their cheating services.