CEO of Ashley Madison steps down after catastrophic hack

Avid Life Media CEO Noel Biderman is no longer working at the company. His departure comes after subsidiary site Ashley Madison suffered a major hack and leak of its internal data.

Ashley Madison, with its famed tagline “Life’s short. Have an affair,” was made aware that hackers had stolen much of its user and company data in July. The perpetrators of the attack identified themselves as the Impact Team and threatened to reveal the stolen information if Ashley Madison didn’t shut down its site.

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In August, the Impact Team made good on its promise by dumping a trove of Ashley Madison data onto the Web, exposing millions of users.

In the wake of the release, several lawsuits in the U.S. and Canada have popped up, many of which are seeking class action status. In at least one case, the plaintiff is seeking more than $500 million in damages.

Here’s the full statement from Avid Life Media:

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.