Internal Docs Suggest Ashley Madison Knew Hacking Was Huge Threat

Company CEO and CTO apparently expressed concerns about how a breach could hurt Ashley Madison.

Lee Jin-man / AP

The top executives at Ashley Madison were aware that their company was vulnerable to a breach, according to one alleged internal document which shows the CTO and CEO of the company voicing concern over how hackers could infiltrate their database of adults looking to cheat on their spouses.

The leak of 9.7 gigabytes of information Wednesday, which hackers claim they stole from Ashley Madison's internal computers, was among the worst-case scenarios imagined by the company executives in an internal questionnaire. The authenticity of the document, which was part of the information posted online by the hackers, could not be independently verified by BuzzFeed.

While security experts have said that the information posted online appears to be from the site, Ashley Madison has not yet confirmed whether the accounts of more than 37 million people, as well as internal company documents, are authentic.

In the questionnaire, company employees are asked to comment on their concerns for the company.

"We should put any and all efforts forward to defend against any security issues that can put our brand and 15 years of hard work at risk," writes CEO Noel Biderman.

Trevor Stokes, the CTO, echoes his concerns writing, " I would hate to see our systems hacked and/or the leak of personal information."

In further comments the two wonder about data exfiltration and the confidentiality of the data posted on their site, Kevin Mcall, VP of operations, adds that there is "a lack of security awareness across the organization."

LINK: Hackers Release Details Of Ashley Madison Cheaters

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