Affair internet dating is not up in everyone's alley, and some may even consider the idea as taboo. So all hell broke loose when this huge affair dating site got entangled into a database hacking incident.
Its hackers claimed two reasons for exposing the 32 million site members' personal information, like email addresses and account details. First, they claim to be against Ashley Madison's practice of arranging affairs between married individuals. Second, they claim that Ashley Madison's business practices are considered unethical.
To regain the confidence of its members, the site underwent a series of measures, including doing a rebranding of its image.
Here are some of the measures that Ashley Madison had put in security features for its updated platform:
Updated Security Program
Ashley Madison settled with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to implement a comprehensive data security program involving a third-party company that will do the assessments. The security program should prevent similar incidents from happening.
Two-Factor Authentication Feature
The site also added another layer of security to the user sign-in process. The two-factor authentication feature was added beyond the username and password. With this protection, the site will be able to tell whether it's really the users who are trying to log into the account. Members are now required to enter a piece of information or answer a security question so that hackers may not be able to bypass easily the sign-in gates.
Bug Bounty Program
Website vulnerabilities do not only happen with Ashley Madison. In fact, this is a problem that most websites face and try to improve on. With this, Ashley Madison implemented its own bug bounty program to help locate these problem areas even before hackers can exploit them. People who can help point out these vulnerabilities are compensated by Ashley Madison. Bug bounty programs are used by huge digital companies like Facebook, Google, and Reddit to name a few, and they have been effective in boosting security.
Following Strict Cybersecurity Standards
Ashley Madison is now aligned with the NIST cybersecurity standards. The NIST implements a cybersecurity framework in response to a US presidential executive order that called for a standardized security framework for critical infrastructure in the United States. In 2017, Ashley Madison also achieved the "Privacy by Design Certification" from Ryerson University.
Ashley Madison's Chief Strategy Officer, Mr. Paul Keable guarantees that there won't be another hack that will compromise the dating site's member data. Aside from having top-tier security, they also have a dedicated privacy team working day and night to protect their members' information. Learn more about the 2015 hack here.
