In a worrying turn of events for PC gamers, a huge data breach has been revealed as having spilled the details on some 89 million Steam accounts. The breach, which reportedly was accessed through a third-party supplier, has caused shockwaves of worry across the gaming community.
The information that was hacked includes personal information such as phone numbers, account information, one-time access codes, and SMS history, reports say. The information is being sold on the dark web for a mere $5,000, raising good reasons to question the security policies that exist to protect user information.
Valve, the corporate parent, has not publicly commented. The gaming community, though, is urging customers to take immediate action to safeguard accounts. Recommended action is resetting Steam passwords, turning on two-factor authentication, and guarding against phony emails and probable phishing scams.
Steam, launched in 2003, is now the industry leader at bringing PC games to market. The service had just shattered the record of simultaneously having over 40 million online users, and it serves as the nexus where gamers play host to collections and socialize with friends. Yet this recent security vulnerability blemishes the achievement of Steam to expose the vulnerability of cyberattack to gamers.
This attack is not isolated. The gaming industry has been plagued by a series of data breaches in recent years that have affected industry titans such as Grinding Gear Games, Game Freak, Sony, Insomniac, and Ubisoft. These data breaches serve to remind us of the need for sufficient security features and the need to be vigilant of the new cyber threats.
As the gaming community waits to hear what Valve has to say, focus is on the protection of user accounts and preventing further breaches. The breach serves to put the blame on the need for timely security and on companies and users remaining ever vigilant and watchful in the cybercrime war.
