Bookmate 2018 Data Breach
ObscureIQ Breach Intelligence
Low SeverityWebsite / service breach
Bookmate E-Book Subscription Platform Breach (2018): 8 Million User Accounts Including DOB & Passwords Exposed
E-book subscription service.
Verified by ObscureIQ Intelligence
30/100Breach Risk Index
8Data Value
25Market Recency
511dSince Breach
Breach Intelligence Summary
Entity: Bookmate · Actor: GnosticPlayers · Sources: 7 references
Attack: Unknown
Profile: Platform · E-book subscription services · Digital reading platform · Global
Timeline: Breach (2018-07-08) · Indexed (Feb 12, 2025) · Year (2018)
Exposure: 8.0M records · 8 fields: Date of Birth, Email Address, Full Name, Gender, Geographic Location, IP Address, Password, Username
Status: Confirmed
Executive Summary
In mid-2018 (8 July 2018), the e-book service Bookmate was breached and the data was sold in early 2019 within the large multi-site collection attributed to the actor known as GnosticPlayers. The set contained roughly 8 million records (about 4 million unique email addresses) including names, usernames, dates of birth, genders, geographic locations, IP addresses, and passwords stored as salted SHA-512 hashes.
ObscureIQ assessment: Primary risks include account takeover and phishing. Reading history and subscription behavior can also reveal sensitive interests or ideological patterns.
Breach Impact
Dates of birth combined with names and contact/location data raise identity-fraud and profiling risk beyond simple credential exposure; salted SHA-512 offers reasonable password protection.
About Bookmate
Bookmate is a social e-book subscription service that lets readers access and share a catalogue of books and track their reading across devices.
Why They Hold Your Data
Digital reading platforms collect user accounts, emails, subscription data, reading history, saved libraries, and engagement records tied to e-book and audiobook access.
Recent Developments
The stolen data was sold in early 2019 as part of a large multi-site collection offered on the dark web.
Data Points Exposed
8 verified field types
Date of Birth High
Email Address
Full Name High
Gender
Geographic Location
IP Address
Password Critical
Username
Field names are shown in full for clarity and search visibility. Canonical machine keys are emitted only in this page’s structured data.
Exploitation & Downstream Threats
Threat Activity:Moderate
Primary downstream threats:
- Credential stuffing against reused passwords across other platforms
- Identity verification bypass using name + date of birth combination
- Targeted phishing campaigns using exposed email addresses
- Doxxing risk from physical address exposure
Threat vectors:
- Identity verification bypass
- Phishing, credential stuffing & account takeover
- Name-based social engineering
- Profile enrichment
- Pattern-of-life analysis & physical surveillance
- Geolocation & account flagging
- Credential stuffing & account takeover
- Cross-platform tracking & credential stuffing
Threat Actor: GnosticPlayers
GnosticPlayers
Unknown
Attribution and method are based on available breach intelligence. Reported attack vector: Unknown.
Recommended Actions
If you believe your information may be included:
Change Reused Passwords
Update this account and anywhere you reused the password; use a manager.
Enable MFA Everywhere
Turn on multi-factor authentication on email first, then financial accounts.
Report & Recover
If you spot misuse, start an official recovery plan and report fraud.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened in the Bookmate breach?▾
In mid-2018 (8 July 2018), the e-book service Bookmate was breached and the data was sold in early 2019 within the large multi-site collection attributed to the actor known as GnosticPlayers. The set contained roughly 8 million records (about 4 million unique email addresses) including names,…
What data was exposed?▾
Verified fields include Date of Birth, Email Address, Full Name, Gender, Geographic Location, IP Address, Password, Username.
What should I do if I was affected?▾
Change reused passwords, enable MFA, and (if identity or financial data is involved) freeze your credit and monitor your accounts.
Sources & References
Every claim on this page is traceable. This breach draws on:
Breach Index
Breach Index
Cross-source
9ghz
Cross-source
BreachForums_Official_Index
Cross-source
DataViper.io
Cross-source
Keeper
ObscureIQ Intelligence
ObscureIQ proprietary analysis
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