Steam has allegedly suffered a data breach in the past week. Details are scant and difficult to confirm, but a known hacker has claimed to be selling a database of more than 89 million user records for the gaming platform with one-time access codes obtained from a third-party vendor used by Steam. If accurate, that would include information about more than two-thirds of Steam’s audience.
The original LinkedIn post identifying a breach suggested that the leaked information came from cloud communication company Twilio. However, a Steam rep said the platform doesn’t use Twilio, so if there has been a breach, it may be through a different vendor providing SMS codes for access.
While we’re genuinely not sure what’s happening at this stage, the whole kerfuffle is a timely reminder to check in on your online security practices. In the case of Steam, Valve has a mobile authentication program called Steam Guard that can help keep your account secure. It’s also a good practice to make sure you’re regularly changing your pass codes, especially when it’s possible that some component of Steam Guard was at the root of this week’s security drama. A password manager can streamline that process. Since phone numbers appear to have been compromised, be extra alert to possible phishing attempts via text.
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