Ashley Madison claims thousands of new users despite leak of information

TORONTO – The owners of adultery website Ashley Madison say hundreds of thousands of people signed up for their website in the past week despite a recent cyberattack that leaked the personal information of many of their users.

Toronto-based Avid Life Media, the parent company of Ashley Madison, claims reports of its imminent demise are exaggerated and that operations continue despite the departure of founder and CEO Noel Biderman on Friday.

Biderman stepped down from the company following a cyberattack in which hackers stole the personal information of Ashley Madison’s customers and distributed it online.

Avid Life said 87,596 women signed up in the last week and that reports suggesting only a small percentage of the site’s users are women were based on incorrect conclusions from the leaked data.

The company did not say how many users it had lost during that same period.

Ashley Madison has said it is co-operating with police to find those responsible for the hack. The company has offered a $500,000 reward for anyone with information that results in the identification, arrest and conviction of those responsible.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version incorrectly identified chief executive Noel Biderman.