After Facebook, another data breach: MyFitnessPal app hits 150 mn accounts

The privacy of more hundreds of million people has been violated with yet another massive data breach in the world of technology.

MyFitnessPal, a popular fitness tracking app which allows users to monitor calorie intake and exercise routine, is the injured party this time.

An American giant in sportswear manufacturing, Under Armour, revealed that on March 25, it discovered unauthorised access that exposed or compromised 150 million MyFitnessPal accounts, according to the Forbes.

The company released a statement notifying about the issue of breach of privacy. The statement confirmed the breach and data theft associated with MyFitnessPal user accounts. However, the statement did not confirm the number of accounts compromised.

Talking more about the matter, it clarified, “The affected information included usernames, email addresses, and hashed passwords – the majority with the hashing function called bcrypt used to secure passwords”.

On taking further action, the statement pointed out that the necessary steps have been taken to determine the nature and scope of the issue. It insisted that the organisation is working with leading data security firms to assist in the investigation.

The statement further informed about the steps the organisation is taking to protect MyFitnessPal community – notifying users to provide information on how they can protect their data, requiring users to change their passwords immediately, monitoring and notifying for suspicious activity continuously,

MyFitnessPal urged its users to take the personal data theft very seriously and to stay alert. It further suggested, “Change your password for any other account on which you used the same or similar information used for your MyFitnessPal account”.

“Review your accounts for suspicious activity and be cautious of any unsolicited communications that ask for your personal data or refer you to a web page asking for personal data”, the statement further read.

It also suggested avoiding clicking on links or downloading attachments from suspicious emails.