It has been reported that the entire platform Twitch has been hacked and valuable data has been leaked. This could include the passwords of millions of users. What the situation entails and what you can do to secure your accounts can be found here on MeinMMO.
Update 6:30 PM: Twitch has since commented on the matter and confirmed an attack. However, YouTuber Dream and other users are mocking the statement: Twitch confirms major leak – Big Minecraft YouTuber mocks the statement.
What happened to Twitch? According to a hacker, Amazon’s streaming platform Twitch was massively hacked. A data collection allegedly originating from Twitch, totaling 125 gigabytes, is available on the notorious troll platform 4Chan, where anyone can download it.
It contains, among other things, the following data:
- Earnings of streamers, including MontanaBlack
- Information about a Steam competitor called “Vapor”
- The entire source code of Twitch
Did this really happen? The site “VideoGameChronicle” has confirmed that the files are indeed available on 4chan. An anonymous company source has also confirmed that this hack did indeed happen and that they have been aware of it since Monday.
However, an official statement from Amazon or Twitch is still pending. We will inform you as soon as we know more.
What you can do to protect your accounts
Are passwords affected? It is currently not specifically known whether the leak includes the database with encrypted user data such as passwords. However, if the leak is indeed real and also includes passwords, then the security of your Twitch account is at risk.
Other accounts of yours might also be affected if you have used the same or a similar password for other online services.
What can I do to protect myself? Just to be safe, you should definitely change your Twitch password. Alternatively, or as additional security, enabling two-factor authentication on Twitch would also be advisable.
If you use the same or similar passwords on other online services, it would also make sense to change those as well. This is especially useful for business accounts or online banking.
Furthermore, it might be a good idea for the future to use special password management tools so that each of your passwords is unique and you do not have to change dozens of passwords in the event of such disasters as the current Twitch hack.
