World's biggest cyberattacks: 'Wannacry' to Ashley Madison
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Ashley Madison's parent company has reached a proposed $11.2 million settlement agreement with lawyers representing victims of the cheating site's 2015 data breach.
The high-profile hack left the personal data of more than 37 million users vulnerable and prompted class action lawsuits against the site’s parent company Avid Life Media and Avid Dating Life, which owned and operated Ashley Madison. Avid Life Media and Avid Dating Life have rebranded as Ruby Corp. and Ruby Life, respectively.
HACKERS SAY THEY'VE POSTED DATA OF ADULTERY WEBSITE ASHLEY MADISON USERS ONLINE
In a statement released Friday, Ruby said that a proposed settlement had been reached resolving a number of lawsuits related to the breach. The potential plaintiffs are co-led by law firms Dowd & Dowd, The Driscoll Firm, and Heninger Garrison Davis.
“If the proposed settlement agreement is approved by the Court, ruby will contribute a total of $11.2 million USD to a settlement fund, which will provide, among other things, payments to settlement class members who submit valid claims for alleged losses resulting from the data breach and alleged misrepresentations as described further in the proposed settlement agreement,” it said. “While ruby denies any wrongdoing, the parties have agreed to the proposed settlement in order to avoid the uncertainty, expense, and inconvenience associated with continued litigation, and believe that the proposed settlement agreement is in the best interest of ruby and its customers,” it added.
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The company says that since July 2015, it has implemented “numerous remedial measures” to boost the security of customers’ data.
The proposted settlement is worth up to $3,500 for individual victims of the hack, Reuters reports.
Security expert Itay Glick, CEO of data breach protection specialist Votiro, told Fox News that the proposed settlement should be viewed within the broader context of the breach. "I think Ashley Madison is trying to get away with proposing an extremely low settlement since the damage caused by the data breach was likely much higher," he explained, via email. "However, I think they may be able to get away with it, as not all people would like to admit they own an account there."
Despite the massive 2015 hack, Ashley Madison recently hit 52 million users.
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