OTTAWA: The chief executive of dating-for-adulterers website Ashley Madison stepped down on Friday after hackers leaked its membership list online.

Parent company Avid Life Media, which operates the infidelity network, said it and CEO Noel Biderman were in “mutual agreement” about the split.

“This change is in the best interest of the company and allows us to continue to provide support to our members and dedicated employees,” Avid Life Media said.

The firm, meanwhile, is “adjusting to the attack on our business and members’ privacy by criminals,” the company added, vowing uninterrupted member access to its website.

Other senior managers will step in to fill the gap left by Biderman’s departure until a new boss is appointed, the firm said.

A hacker group calling itself the “Impact Team” last week released e-mails and user account information of members stolen from the company’s servers, as well as corporate e-mails and sensitive computer source code.

The gang claimed it wanted to bring attention to the fact that Ashley Madison was charging clients a fee to delete their personal information but was in fact archiving it.

Canadian police have said two possible suicides, including one by a Texas police officer, may be linked to the leak of the website’s 32 million members’ personal data.

The breach has also stirred concern the potential for blackmail. Privacy watchdogs in Canada and Australia are jointly investigating the leak.

Police in Toronto, where Avid Life Media is based, along with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Ontario Provincial Police, US Homeland Security, the Pentagon and the American FBI are also probing the most talked-about hack of the year.