個案資料

The hacker attack on Toronto's Avid Life Media — in which confidential information on 32 million Ashley Madison users was released — offers lessons for all companies, not just controversial ones. After all, the hackers in question did not act simply because the company runs the infamous Ashley Madison infidelity service. They were also moved to act by its aggressive marketing and customer service claims, not to mention its short-term thinking when developing tactics to make the firm more attractive as an investment. In this article, Ivey Business Journal Editor Tom Watson takes readers back to his 2010 investigative journalism on Ashley Madison during the time of its attempted initial public offering, when one of his questions to a boardroom of potential Avid Life backers was enough to make the bankers second-guess their decision. In addition to examining the stakeholder versus shareholder perspectives, he explores the threat that hackers and hacktivists pose to firms and cautions that leaders, such as the former CEO of Avid Life, can in fact have too much bravery.

• Ashley Madison
• leadership
• leader character
• hacktivism
• risk management