Ashley Madison is betting a rebranding campaign and a new approach to hookups, extramarital or otherwise, will be enough to help users forget its checkered past.

Chief Executive Officer Rob Segal says the site was still able to add five million new users since July 2015, and remains financially sound, boosting its total user base to almost 46.8 million, despite suffering a massive data breach last year that exposed the user data of thousands of users around the world.

The Ashley Madison domain is owned by Ruby Corp, which changed its name from Avid Life Media as part of the company’s rebranding efforts.

Segal says the company’s next job is reassuring users their data is safe.

“[We’re] beefing up security, adding new discrete alternative payment methods, and a whole bunch of other things to really enhance the product … 24/7 cyber-security monitoring, we reviewed three-million lines of code, we beefed up in every area possible,” said Segal in an interview on BNN.

Ashley Madison may still conjure up notions of infidelity and extramarital affairs for some, but the reinvented Ruby Corp is trying to cast a wider net.

“Close to 45 per cent of [Ashley Madison] users are single,” said Segal, “And the ones that were attached were looking for lots of other experiences and shared experiences beyond infidelity… there was an opportunity here to speak to an open-minded, free-spirited, adventurous user base.”

He says the company remains very excited about the online dating space. He adds that rebranding under the Ruby name is a step in the right direction.

“We do think there are some tremendous opportunities out there for us,” he said.

“Going forward, if it’s a healthy company, it’s got a new message, it’s rebranded, it’s got great cash flow, and it’s a financially-viable company, these opportunities will present themselves either in public or private markets.”

When asked how Segal’s wife took the news of his new job, he said his wife is very supportive of the opportunity.

“She was excited for me.”

With files from Amber Kanwar