Maryland gets share of $1.6M Ashley Madison settlement

Maryland is one of the states that will split a shared settlement in connection with the headline-grabbing Ashley Madison breach, according to state Attorney General Brian Frosh’s office.
The exact share that Maryland will get wasn’t immediately announced, but the $1.6 million in settlement money paid by Ashley Madison owner Ruby Corp. is set to be split 50/50 between 12 states and the District of Columbia, and the Federal Trade Commission.
The case represented the legal fallout of the 2015 breach of the dating site, which was billed as a “discrete” site for extramarital affairs. The hack resulted in members’ information being posted online. RoadSnacks.net reported more than 215,000 accounts were created in Maryland. The governments alleged that Ashley Madison did not have sufficient security controls.
An investigation also found deceptive business practices. The site offered an option that allowed users to pay to fully delete their information, but the site retained some of the data. The site also used fake user profiles to entice people to sign up.
The “Impact Team,” as those responsible for the breach are known, criticized the site both for arranging infidelity and for its business practices.
Ruby agreed to end those practices and bolster security as part of the settlement. The homepage of the site now boasts that “Ashley Madison today is about so much more than infidelity, it’s about all kinds of adult dating.”