Twitch Confirms Huge Data Breach After Its Entire Source Code Leaks Online
Image via Twitch
Earlier this week, rumors emerged that a massive cache of source codes, creator information, and other data had been leaked from Twitch.
Now, the streaming site has officially confirmed the news, verifying that a hacker had indeed gotten access to its developer tools—of all which have been published online.
According to TechCrunch, the data leaked so far has been labeled by the hacker as “part one,” which could suggest there’s still more that’ll be published in the coming days.
While it’s unclear what measures Twitch is currently taking to minimize damage, especially with its top creators’ information leaked, the site took to Twitter to address the issue.
“We can confirm a breach has taken place. Our teams are working with urgency to understand the extent of this. We will update the community as soon as additional information is available,” Twitch said.
Interestingly, the hacker also took a shot at Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, as the company bought the site for nearly US$1 billion in 2014. As per TechCrunch, part of the leak read: “Jeff Bezos paid $970 million for this, we’re giving it away for free.” The perpetrator also added a hashtag which said “#DoBetterTwitch.”
Twitch streamers have also backed up the leak, saying the payout records shown match their own numbers. One user noted: “I looked at a line from June 2019 and literally 100% match to the information showing on my analytics on my dashboard.”
This huge breach doesn’t lend to Twitch’s credibility, especially after streamers protested on September 1 against the lack of moderation during “hate raids,” where bots spam streamers’ comments with hate messages. Plus, with access to the site’s source code, other hackers could easily look for and exploit vulnerabilities for future hacks.
No big-name creators have said they’re jumping sites just yet, but how Twitch handles this crisis in the coming weeks will inadvertently affect its user base’s faith in the site.
We can confirm a breach has taken place. Our teams are working with urgency to understand the extent of this. We will update the community as soon as additional information is available. Thank you for bearing with us.
— Twitch (@Twitch) October 6, 2021
[via TechCrunch, cover image via Twitch]
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