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An anonymous hacker attacked Amazon.com’s video game streaming platform, Twitch, and disclosed a wealth of data, including Twitch source code and a spreadsheet detailing the earnings of top players in the world. platform.
Leaks on social media platform 4chan, popular among conspiracy theorists and gamers, claim to include the platform’s entire Twitch.tv streaming history and an Amazon Games product, which is still ongoing. development, designed to challenge Valve Corp’s dominant Steam storefront.
The leak also offers a glimpse of the wealth generated in the gaming sub-industry. A document listing Twitch’s top earners shows gross revenue since 2019 to hit $ 9.6 million for the platform’s main account. , CriticalRole, a set of voice actors. The list shows 13 accounts that have generated more than $ 108,000 per year and at least 80 that have raised more than $ 1 million since 2019.
Twitch has confirmed the breach and said it will provide updates when it has more information.
The hacker said the purpose of the leak was to “foster more disruption and competition in the online video streaming space,” which he described as a “disgusting toxic sump,” according to the 4chan post. reviewed by Bloomberg News. Thread users applauded the hack for exposing the salaries of top employees, who were accused of trying to keep their profits a secret. The leak even spawned a site – TwitchEarnings.com – that promises to allow users to sift through stolen payment data or search several of the thousands of Twitch handles by name.
“Every time the source code is leaked, it’s bad and potentially disastrous,” said Ekram Ahmed, spokesperson for Check Point Software Technologies, a cybersecurity firm. “This opens a huge door for criminals to find loopholes in the system, create malware and potentially steal sensitive information. I highly recommend all Twitch users to exercise caution in the short term as cyber attacks are on the increase. “
Twitch got its fair share of review in September on the platform’s mismanagement of so-called hate raids. These occur when attackers or bots bombard an active live stream of messages in the victim’s chat box, usually homophobic, racist, or sexist content. Users boycotted the platform on September 1 for Twitch’s lack of response to these heinous raids.
Seattle-based Amazon acquired Twitch in 2014. Since then, it has tried to combine it with other Prime services, such as Amazon Music and Prime Gaming, formerly known as Twitch Prime.
Twitch, a live streaming platform that draws millions of viewers, is the leading provider of video games. The company gives streamers a share of the ad revenue and sometimes finds itself in bidding wars with rivals such as Google’s YouTube for the exclusive services of closely watched streamers.
“With 15 million daily users, Twitch holds significant amounts of data, much of which contains personal information about its customers,” said Danny Lopez, managing director of Glasswall Solutions, a cybersecurity company, in a statement. . “It is essential that a proactive approach be taken to cybersecurity in order to protect this information. Once hackers gain access to the systems, there is not much you can do. “
Bloomberg writer Augusta Saraiva contributed to this report.
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