Twitch admits data leak: Source code and streamer earnings published by hacker

Author

Gullu

Date

Oct, 26.2021

Twitch's whole network has now been exposed, according to an unnamed hacker. The whole source code of Twitch, money from streamers since 2019, internal tools, passwords, and more should be available in a 125-gigabyte data dump. 4chan is now disseminating a link to the data bundle.

Note: Twitch has now essentially confirmed the data theft, but has remained tight-lipped about the scope. "We'll work nonstop to assess the scope," the teams said. As soon as further information becomes available, they want to keep the community informed.

Until then, we can only recommend changing the password on a regular basis (especially if the Twitch password isn't unique and has been used on other accounts) and enabling 2FA, if it hasn't already been done.

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

Currently, an anonymous hacker claims to have exposed the entire Twitch streaming site. A 125-gigabyte data bundle is already available for public download, and it should include, among other things, Twitch's whole source code, stream money from 2019, and more. The supposed leak's link is currently being circulated on 4chan.

The data leak was announced by the user, who argued that it should "promote greater disruption and competition in the online video streaming business." "A filthy, poisonous sewer," he said of the Twitch community. It further clarifies that the current data set is just the beginning of the leak. According to our friends at VGC, an unnamed Twitch source has confirmed that the data published is accurate. The code was most likely only tapped on Monday, according to reports.

Many people have already started sifting through the 125 gigabytes of code and sharing their findings on social media. So far, all Twitch source code, Twitch clients for various platforms, proprietary SDKs and AWS services, several internal tools, a previously undisclosed Steam competitor of Amazon Game Studios codenamed Vapor, and payrolls have been shared. Streamers have been finding it since 2019 - the figures should be correct, according to Heisewho double-checked their own data. Users are encouraged to update their passwords and enable two-factor authentication because the leak is rumored to contain encrypted passwords. The recommendation, however, does not come from Twitch itself, as there has been no response on the official channels thus far.

Twitch's streaming platform has been chastised repeatedly in recent months, particularly by its own members. The corporation only added a new category to handle complaints regarding bathtub and hot tub movies in May. Streamers most recently used the #ADayOffTwitch movement to condemn hate raids. The boycott had a significant influence on the number of people that watched the show.