Ashley Madison CEO Noel Biderman has stepped down, parent company Avid Life Media revealed on Friday, following a devastating security breach last month.
Avid Life Media announced the departure in a brief press release earlier today, noting that the decision was mutual and that Biderman is no longer with the company effective immediately.
The parent company added that the change is in the best interest of the company and allows them to continue to provide support to both members and dedicated employees. Avid said they are working with law enforcement in an effort to help track down those responsible for the hack.
In the interim, Ashley Madison remains open to members and will be led by its existing senior management team until a new CEO is found.
What looked like a run-of-the-mill hack job early on has quickly evolved into one of the more high-profile and damning security breaches in recent history. The sensitive nature of Ashley Madison's service alone was enough to capture headlines yet as the public combed through the data dump, an abundance of evidence suggests it was little more than a well-orchestrated scam to swindle money from its millions of male clientele.
One investigation led to the conclusion that there may have been as few as 12,000 active females on the site, a far cry from the 5.5 million female profiles.
Given the evidence against it as well as at least two lawsuits, one would think the service's image has been tarnished beyond repair. I'll personally be surprised if Avid doesn't shut the site down in the near future.
Lead image courtesy Eugene Hoshiko, AP