Twitch was hacked earlier this month. A change in Twitch’s server design, according to the streaming giant, allowed “an unauthorised third party” to get access and grab 125 GB of data. Twitch’s source code, as well as details on how much Twitch pays its top creators, were among the information leaked.
Even though there was “no indication” anyone’s login credentials were revealed, Twitch recommended everyone change their passwords, as is common in such data breaches. After that, the Amazon streaming platform promised a full investigation.
Twitch appears to have completed its investigation and can now affirm that no passwords or payment cards were compromised, which is a huge relief.
“Twitch passwords have not been exposed. We are also confident that systems that store Twitch login credentials, which are hashed with bcrypt, were not accessed, nor were full credit card numbers or ACH / bank information,” Twitch wrote in a recent blog update. “The exposed data primarily contained documents from Twitch’s source code repository, as well as a subset of creator payout data.”
The stolen files only exposed a “small fraction of users, and the customer effect is modest,” according to Twitch. The individuals whose information was taken, on the other hand, were Twitch’s largest content creators, and they didn’t enjoy their rewards being plastered all over the internet.
According to xQc, this attack, paired with YouTube’s recent push into streaming, has frightened Twitch into desperate measures. He believes Twitch’s decision to unban previously perma-banned streamers is an attempt to rekindle interest in the struggling streaming site, which has seen some of its top talent snatched by YouTube.
Streamers such as Velvet 7 and Axium, who were previously banned for life, have recently made triumphant comeback to Twitch. It’s yet unclear whether either party has learnt their lesson or will return to their old tricks, potentially resulting in another ban.