Boat Investigating Data Breach That Reportedly Leaked Personal Information of 7.5 Million Customers

Boat has announced that it has launched an investigation into claims related to a potential data breach that leaked personally identifiable information (PII) of millions of customers online. According to a recent report, the exposed data includes the details of over 7.5 million customers and the files were posted for sale on a hacking forum by a previously unknown hacker. The Indian electronics brand is one of the most popular brands in the wearable device market and sells fitness trackers and audio products in the country.

Forbes India recently reported that a hacker with the username ShopifyGUY recent posted about 2GB of customer data from a data breach that contained 7.5 million entries. Posted to a hacking forum, the data includes customers' PII including their name, phone number, address, email ID, and their customer ID — the publication said it verified the authenticity of the data with recent Boat customers. 

The hacker posted the allegedly leaked data to a hacking forum on April 5

According to the report, the data was available for eight credits — or EUR 2 (roughly Rs. 180), making it easily available to nefarious users. As a result, the customers whose information has been leaked could potentially be targeted with phishing attempts or scams, based on the PII that was exposed in the data breach.

The wearable maker responded to the allegations of the data breach on Monday, stating that it has begun a probe into the claims of a data breach at the firm. “Boat is aware of recent claims regarding a potential data leak involving customer information. We take these claims seriously and have immediately launched a comprehensive investigation. At Boat, safeguarding customer data is our top priority,” the company said in a prepared statement.

"Companies should start hiring in cybersecurity. Thousands of companies are currently holding millions of people's databases in their servers without any security audit. Responsibility should be decided, and fines should be imposed on these types of companies," independent security researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia told Gadgets 360.

Boat (Imagine Marketing) continues to hold the biggest market share in the wearables sector in India. In February, IDC's wearable device tracker indicated that the company's market share in CY 2023 was 26 percent (down from 29.3 percent in CY 2022) and its market share in Q4 2023 was 19.2 percent (down from 23.9 percent in Q4 2022).

The company's closest rivals Fire-Boltt and Noise (Nexxbase) currently occupy the third and second positions, respectively in terms of overall market share, and the gap appears to be closing — as per the IDC report, they are already the top two smartwatch companies in terms of market share in CY 2023 and Q4 2023.