Ashley Madison gets $US1.66m settlement

The owner of hacked infidelity website Ashley Madison has paid $US1.66 million ($A2.21 million) to settle a joint investigation by the US Federal Trade Commission and several US states into lax data security and deceptive practices, the company and New York's Attorney General say.

The remainder of a $US17.5 million settlement was suspended based on privately-held Ruby Corp's inability to pay, the office of New York Attorney General Eric T Schneiderman said in a statement on Wednesday.

The company first disclosed it was the target of an FTC investigation in a Reuters interview in July.