Ashley Madison parent company probed by US watchdog

The new bosses of website-for-cheaters Ashley Madison said its parent company, Avid Life Media, is being probed thoroughly by the US Federal Trade Commission.

This after a high-profile and devastating hack last year that saw the personal details of millions who signed up for the infidelity website exposed. The breach cost Avid more than a quarter of its revenue.

Following the messy affair, Rob Segal and James Millership were appointed in April as chief executive and president respectively to revive the company's credibility.

They face an uphill battle, and, referring to the hack, told Reuters that Avid could have spent more on security.

The closely-held outfit is now spending millions to improve that security and look at payment options that offer more privacy to customers, the news agency reported.

Even still, Avid faces a legion of issues, including class-action lawsuits. Then there are allegations of fake profiles used to manipulate some customers.

An Ernst & Young report commissioned by Avid and shared with Reuters confirmed Avid used computer programs, dubbed fembots, that impersonated real women, striking up conversations with paying male customers.

Avid claimed it did not know the focus of its own FTC probe, Reuters reported.

When asked about the fembot messages sent to US customers, Segal told the news agency: "that's a part of the ongoing process that we're going through ... it's with the FTC right now."

The fembot, or female robot, was popularised by the television series The Bionic Woman in the 1970s, and later returned to common parlance thanks to the gurning- and innuendo-laden Austin Powers films, 1997-2002.