We recently learned that an unauthorized third party illegally accessed some members’ information on our network. This included: member first names, last names (if provided), email addresses, encrypted passwords, phone numbers (if provided) and certain membership dates.

In partnership with law enforcement, we immediately began an aggressive investigation into the circumstances surrounding the situation, and we will be working with various regulatory bodies to address any concerns.  We have also taken active steps to ensure the protection of affected members’ information by resetting their passwords.  We are contacting directly those customers that may be affected.

At this point in the investigation, we have no evidence indicating that credit or debit card information has been compromised. This issue also appears to be limited to members who registered before June 2010.

While it is too early for definitive conclusions, we believe that the illegal access of this information may be related to the access involving certain encrypted passwords that was previously discovered in June 2012.

We have been taking precautionary measures to enhance our security and have invested an extensive amount of resources on multiple initiatives to protect member information.

In order to help protect your privacy on any web sites you visit, we recommend the following Internet security best practice tips:

• If you receive an email that asks you to click on links or take other actions related to your account, exercise caution – especially if you did not request that action

• If you aren’t sure a message is legitimate, contact the company that supposedly sent it to find out-or discard the message

• Make sure your computer has anti-virus and anti-spyware software installed.

• Change your passwords on a regular basis

• Create a strong password of at least 8 characters, composed of lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers and symbols

• Create different passwords for each of the Internet sites you use

We apologize for any inconvenience or concern that this may have caused. We will keep you updated as to any significant developments on this matter. Should you have questions, feel free to contact an eHarmony customer service representative at 1-877-904-4812, which is a dedicated Customer Care line for calls related to this announcement.

The post Security Update From eHarmony appeared first on eHarmony Blog.

We have been taking active steps to protect our members since we became aware of the issue. We quickly secured the small percentage of accounts affected by this incident by disabling their passwords. We sent an email to all affected members and provided them with specific instructions on how to change their password and tips on how to create a robust password. The email also included a direct phone number and live online chat access to our Customer Care team so we could personally address concerns and questions.

While our investigation is ongoing, we have not found any indication that other information was accessed, nor have we received any reports of unauthorized logins to member accounts.

We have also been working with law enforcement authorities in our investigation and have been in touch with one of the other companies affected as well.

We would like to reiterate that we are taking every measure to protect our members. We urge everyone to follow these Internet security best practices for every site you visit:

• Create a strong password of at least 8 characters, composed of lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers and symbols.
• Create different passwords for each of the Internet sites you use.
• Change your passwords every few months.
• Do not click links in emails you receive if you are unfamiliar with the sender or weren’t expecting the message. Be especially cautious about messages that invite you to click a link in order to update your password or account information.

As we learn more, we will continue to share news in our blog.

The post Updates On Ongoing Efforts To Protect Our Members appeared first on eHarmony Blog.

After investigating reports of compromised passwords, we have found that a small fraction of our user base has been affected. We are continuing to investigate but would like to provide the following actions we are taking to protect our members.

As a precaution, we have reset affected members passwords.

Those members will receive an email with instructions on how to reset their passwords.

We recommend all members to practice these robust password security tips:
• Create a strong password of at least 8 characters, composed of lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers and symbols
• Create different passwords for each of the Internet sites you use
• Change your passwords every few months
 
Please be assured that eHarmony uses robust security measures, including password hashing and data encryption, to protect our members’ personal information. We also protect our networks with state-of-the-art firewalls, load balancers, SSL and other sophisticated security approaches. 

We deeply regret any inconvenience this causes any of our users.

The post Update on Compromised Passwords appeared first on eHarmony Blog.

Verba joins eHarmony from Zynga, the world’s largest social game developer, where he served as founding General Manager of Treasure Isle, one of Zynga’s top social games. Prior to Zynga, Verba served as President and CEO for Piczo, Inc., which he built into one of the largest online teen community sites in the world, with primary markets in the United States, United Kingdom and Germany. Additionally, Verba has served in leadership roles at AOL, E! Online and CNET.

“Jeremy’s expertise and proven success leading multiple consumer Internet companies makes him an ideal fit to lead eHarmony’s next phase of growth,” said Dr. Neil Clark Warren, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of eHarmony. “We are excited to have Jeremy lead eHarmony as the company moves towards even greater levels of creativity and performance.”

Verba’s appointment coincides with eHarmony achieving significant milestones in mobile platforms and internationally. In 2011, eHarmony has seen mobile app downloads surpass the one million mark. Consumers on average are downloading eHarmony’s iPhone, iPad and Android mobile apps over 10,000 times a day and more than 30 percent of eHarmony’s user registrations are currently taking place within the mobile environment.

The company continues to see significant growth internationally–now operating in 16 countries including Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and Brazil, and through its affiliation with eDarling, in 11 countries in continental Europe.

“I’m honored to join the eHarmony team and look forward to extending the brand’s commitment to help singles everywhere find successful long-term relationships,” said Jeremy Verba, eHarmony CEO. “Already a strong, trusted brand with considerable momentum, eHarmony is uniquely positioned to continue driving innovation and growth into the next decade.”

Verba holds a BS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.

The post eHarmony Names Jeremy Verba Chief Executive Officer appeared first on eHarmony Blog.

Project Wedding, a free wedding planning resource, was acquired by WeddingWire, a leading wedding technology company. Since March 2010, WeddingWire has powered Project Wedding’s local vendor directories and vendor reviews.

Weddingbee and Just Mommies, a top wedding blog and parenting community, were acquired by Internet Brands, which maintains a portfolio of more than 100 websites.

Financial terms of the sales were not disclosed.

The post eHarmony Sells Wedding and Parenting Sites appeared first on eHarmony Blog.

Stacie was on eHarmony for over a year, and Marcelo used it on and off over a period of seven years. So sometimes, patience is the name of the game. As Stacie says, it just takes one!

Perseverance paid off for these two, who are now engaged to be married on December 23, 2009—the anniversary of their match date. We give them our heartfelt wishes for a wonderful life together!

Here’s their advice:

The match settings are very important.  I changed them a few times to see what kind of matches I would receive.  I live in Southern California, so there are plenty of members within 30 miles.  Plus, I did not want a long distance relationship.  So, I mainly used the 30 mile setting.  I also marked that setting as “very important”, so I wouldn’t get a lot of matches that were much farther than the 30 miles.  The same for age, height, drinking, smoking, religion, etc.  I learned that by putting “very important”, I would get matches closer to what I was looking for.

I would read the profiles and look at the photo (if there was one posted).  If I wasn’t interested in the match, I would close it and give the reason why.  I found that by closing matches with a reason, I would receive matches that were closer to my preferences.  The most difficult part for me was the physical attraction.  It seemed like the matches that I was physically attracted to would always close me out.  So, I learned to be patient.  I believed that in time, I would receive a match where we both would find each other physically attractive.

The settings I changed were “age” and “if my match had children”.  I originally was interested in a younger woman with no children.  I changed my settings after considering that my perfect match could be closer to my age with children.  That is when I was matched with Stacie.  She is two years older and has two children.

Stacie and I like all the improvements that eHarmony implements.  For example, the Fast Track option, being able to know that a match has viewed our profile, being able to manage closed matches better, etc.

We both think the Personality Profile Questionnaire that all members must answer is great.  We believe eHarmony does match you with compatible people, which goes beyond physical appearance.  We met wonderful people that became friends even though there wasn’t a love connection.

I recommend that people who are serious about meeting a life-long partner be patient and give eHarmony a year or more.  I used eHarmony as just another way to meet women that I would not ordinarily meet.  Do not use eHarmony as the only way to meet people though.  I think that would be unrealistic and cause disappointment.

The post How-to Tips from Success Couple Stacie and Marcelo appeared first on eHarmony Blog.

Now through Sunday, November 22, it’s eHarmony’s Free Communication Weekend, so it’s your chance to connect and communicate with your matches for free and experience the difference of eHarmony. Once you complete our Relationship Questionnaire, we’ll look for your matches based on 29 Dimensions® of Compatibility — like humor, intellect and character.

Who knows—you may end up like Melanie and Nue and can add one more thing to your list of things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Here’s their story, in Melanie’s own words.

Nue and I met on a 3 day free trial weekend in September of ’06.  He was the very first person I talked to and we made it to open communication very quickly that weekend.  We decided to meet for drinks on a Monday night.  This was supposed to last only a few hours; we talked for over 5 hours!  It was great; we hit it off.  Shortly after we had gone out a few times, he told me that he was moving for his job to Michigan.  I decided not to tell anyone about us dating because I figured it would not go anywhere since he was moving.

We continued to see each other and one night I asked him if he wanted to go to Thanksgiving with me.  I was sure he would say no, and I wasn’t sure I really wanted him to meet my family anyway, but he said yes and then invited me to his family’s Thanksgiving celebration.  After a few days, I actually uninvited him to mine because, I figured, since he was moving, why have him meet my entire family?  Well, he seemed like he felt bad so I once again invited him.

We first went to one of his family’s Thanksgivings and I met his parents, brothers, aunts, uncles and nieces.  It was so wonderful, and they made me feel so welcome.  I also got to try a lot of traditional Lao food, which was very good!

Next we went to my family’s Thanksgiving.  As we walked in and I introduced him, I said, “This is Nue, we are not going to be dating, we’re not getting married, so don’t ask me where he is at Christmas because he is moving.”  In my family, when you bring someone around, it’s pretty serious, so I just had to let them know this was absolutely not going anywhere. Nue said, “What, we’re not getting married…why didn’t you tell me!”  My Aunt Nancy about fell off her chair laughing.  We took a goofy picture that day, pretending we were getting our senior pictures taken out by a tree.  Everyone just loved Nue, which was a blessing, but also a bummer because we were not going to be together.

After all of our Thanksgivings, we realized we actually really liked each other and him leaving was going to be little harder than we thought.  Meeting each other’s families and really liking each of them brought our dating to a new level.  We then decided since I had two weeks off for Christmas break, I would fly out to visit him.  I spent the whole two weeks with him in Michigan and that pretty much sealed the deal.  We could not break up!  I moved out to Michigan that June.  I didn’t get to live there too long, as the job market was terrible.  I moved back to Minnesota at the end of September and the Thanksgiving of ’07 I was driving back in a moving truck with Nue so he could be in Minnesota with me.

Shortly after that, we were engaged in February and married in June.  My Aunt Nancy, who laughed the day I said I was not marrying him, reminded me of that Thanksgiving and said she knew that he was the one that day!  I will always hold the holiday of Thanksgiving in my heart, as we have had so many wonderful memories of that holiday!

The post We Met During Free Communication Weekend: Melanie and Nue’s Story appeared first on eHarmony Blog.

Leeza Gibbons recently interviewed Dr. Gian Gonzaga, eHarmony’s Senior Director of Research and Development, for her radio show, Hollywood Confidential.  In a series of five segments, Gian and Leeza discuss finding the key to long-term relationship success.

Click here to watch a video of Leeza and Gian’s interview from this past weekend. Hear how eHarmony conducted scientific research on married couples to match singles based on dimensions of compatibility such as personality traits, values, and beliefs.  Do opposites attract?  Or is having similar outlooks on life more important to sustaining a long-term relationship?  Is there such a thing as love at first sight?

Tune in to Hollywood Confidential November 21 and 22, 2009 for the conclusion of Leeza’s interview with Dr.  Gonzaga. To find out where you can hear Hollywood Confidential in your area, go to www. leezagibbons.com.

The post eHarmony’s Dr. Gian Gonzaga Featured on Leeza Gibbons’ Hollywood Confidential Radio Show appeared first on eHarmony Blog.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Jamie and I made it to open communication and met face to face in March 2008.  We live five hours away from each other, so we took turns traveling to see each other and would sometimes meet in a new place for a weekend getaway.  Last October he asked me to meet him in New Orleans for a concert on Halloween where we could dress up.  He was a skeleton and I was a zombie fairy!  We had a blast; we are kids at heart and love Halloween and the fall season.  Earlier that day Jamie told me for the first time that he loved me!  He always wants to make special moments truly memorable, and it was!

While we were putting the final touches on our Halloween make-up I made the comment, “Next year we are going as something sweet and not scary.  I want to be a princess and you are going to be Prince Charming.”

Jamie took me to Hawaii in June.  In keeping with his way of making special memories, he sat me on a park bench in front of a sunset melting into the ocean and asked me to marry him.  It was the most romantic moment of my life!

We thought we would wait until next April or October to marry.  We couldn’t wait!  He called one night and asked if I would marry him this November.  I was thinking earlier that day if October of this year was too soon to plan a wedding.  We called the venue we were interested in; the last Saturday in October was the only one open in all of October and November!  It is one of our favorite days of the year, the one year anniversary of when he said he loved me, and we will indeed get to be a prince and princess.

We have a beautiful outdoor, Southern fall wedding planned.  We asked the florist to decorate the aisle with gourds, potted mums and leaves in fall colors.  For the reception, we asked her to carve pumpkins with things like our monogram, an engagement ring, the wedding date.  She will place battery powered candles in them with fall flowers coming out of the tops.  When I asked Jamie’s five year old niece to be my flower girl, I have to admit I felt guilty for taking away her trick-or-treat time.  So, she will be the only one “in costume” wearing her beautiful flower girl dress and fairy wings I adorned with a flower and ribbons.

We didn’t want to do a theme wedding, but at the end of the evening we will have small candy bags and masquerade masks for our guests to grab as favors.  Along with our planner, Jamie has been involved in almost every aspect of the planning process.  He is my “modern groom”!  I thank God first and foremost for placing Jamie in my life, but I thank eHarmony for giving us the way to meet.

The post In Their Own Words: Kristen and Jamie appeared first on eHarmony Blog.

Meet Nicole and Steven, one of eHarmony’s recently-betrothed success couples. While every one of our couples has compatibility in common, we’re always amazed at the uniqueness of each of their stories. Here’s their engagement story, as told by Steven:

All it took was one date with one match on eHarmony for me to realize that the rest of my life would be blissfully complete. Within weeks after Nicole first contacted me and asked me out on a date, I found it difficult to be apart from her. The question of marriage was never “Will it happen,” but rather, “When will it happen?” And just as Nicole had been the one to initiate communication, she would also (to my surprise) be the one to propose 17 months later:

Everywhere we went people had always thought we were a newly married couple and were very surprised to hear that we were not. When they asked why, I would jokingly reply that I was waiting on Nicole to propose to me. I had no idea that might actually happen!

On August 15, Nicole took me out on a hot air balloon ride. We took part in a hot air balloon festival and flew amongst a dozen or so other balloons which helped to enhance the already surreal experience. Toward the end of the flight, Nicole took my camcorder and handed it to another passenger. I thought we were going to take one last set of photos but I could tell that wouldn’t be the case as she took my hands into hers – they were trembling!

That’s when I knew she had beaten me to the proposal. It took a little while and a lot of kisses for her to actually work up the strength to ask me to marry her, but when she did I ended up breaking one of the only three rules our pilot gave us – do not yell out of the balloon. He didn’t seem to mind though, and neither did the spectators below that shared in our celebration of engagement.

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