OnePlus data breach: how does it affect you?
It isn't clear if OnePlus users in India are affected by this security breach just yet as the company has not shared any details on the affected users.
Smartphone maker OnePlus said that it discovered a security breach last week while monitoring its systems. The company said in a statement on Friday that some of its users' order information was accessed by an unauthorised party.
"We can confirm that all payment information, passwords and accounts are safe, but certain users' name, contact number, email and shipping address may have been exposed," it said.
The company also said that it has started notifying customers via emails. It also said that right now, OnePlus is working with the relevant authorities to further investigate this incident.
If you have not heard from OnePlus, this means your information is still safe.
However, it cannot be said if OnePlus users in India have been affected as the company has not shared any further details on the affected users.
In the statement, the company added that it took “immediate steps to stop the intruder and reinforce security”, and released a FAQ, which said that the impact of this breach may result in users receiving spam and phishing emails. OnePlus is partnering with a world-renowned security platform next month and will launch an official bug bounty programme by the end of December.
This isn’t the Chinese company's first security incident. In January 2018, up to 40,000 OnePlus customers were affected by a security breach that caused customers’ credit card information to be stolen.
Closer home, OnePlus holds almost 40 percent of the premium smartphone segment in India. This August this year, the company opened its R&D facility in Hyderabad – its first such facility in the country.
It said that the R&D centre will serve as one of the main sites for the company's innovation for global markets. The OnePlus R&D centre houses three labs - camera lab, communications and networking lab, and automation lab, which will focus on camera development, 5G testing, software with a focus on AI and performance testing.
With regards to software and network, the centre specifically will work on the development of India-specific OxygenOS features, including OnePlus applications design and development and drive the 5G enablement for regions like India, EU, and the UK.
(Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta)