Hackers steal data from 150m fitness app users

More than 150 million users of diet and fitness app MyFitnessPal have had their accounts hacked after a major security breach, according to an official announcement.

Run by American sports and fitness apparel manufacturer Under Armour, the app revealed that the user names, encrypted passwords and email addresses of at least 150 million of their subscribers were stolen in February.

As a result of the announcement, which took place after the company discovered the breach on 25th March, shares in Under Armour have taken a major fall of 3.8 per cent.

Commenting on the company's difficulties, Paul Fipps, chief digital officer for MyFitnessPal, stated that the company understands how much its users value their privacy and wants to reassure them that they take the protection of personal information very seriously.

"Once we became aware, we quickly took steps to determine the nature and scope of the issue. “We are working with leading data security firms to assist in our investigation," he added. "We have also notified and are coordinating with law enforcement authorities."

Users have subsequently been advised by MyFitnessPal and Under Armour to change their passwords on all their MyFitnessPal accounts and to review their accounts to ensure there has been no suspicious activity. The app has also requested that all users avoid clicking on any links or attachments in suspicious emails in case they are the result of the security breach.

Meanwhile, Mr Fipps has stated that the company will do as much as it can from its side to ensure no such event occurs again in the future. "We are taking steps to protect our community, including the following:" he said. "We are notifying MyFitnessPal users to provide information on how they can protect their data; we will be requiring MyFitnessPal users to change their passwords and urge users to do so immediately; we continue to monitor for suspicious activity and to coordinate with law enforcement authorities."