Twitch Hacker Releases Source Code For Streaming Platform

According to a report of VGC, an anonymous hacker posted a 125 GB torrent link containing, well, all of Twitch, including its source code and the commit history dating back to the beginning. The leak also contains streamers’ income since 2019 and information suggesting that Amazon-owned streaming platform’s Steam rival, Vapor, may actually exist.

Update, 6/10/21, 11:30 am ET: Twitch confirmed the hack on Twitter, but wrote that he still does not know the extent of the violation:

The download was posted on 4chan today, described by its unidentified source as the “first part” of an “extremely violent leak”, stating that it contains the following:

> The entirety of twitch.tv, with the history of commits dating back to its beginnings

> Twitch clients for mobile, desktop and video game console

> Various proprietary SDKs and internal AWS services used by Twitch

> All other properties that Twitch owns, including IGDB and CurseForge

> An unprecedented Steam competitor from Amazon Game Studios

> Internal Red Twitch SOC team tools (lol)

And, the poster notes, “Creator payment reports from 2019 to now. Find out how much your favorite streamer really earns! “

Calling Twitch a “disgusting toxic sump,” the motivation given for the leak is to “foster more disruption and competition in the online video streaming space.” They add, “We got them completely pwnds.” They also include the hashtag #DoBetterTwitch.

Kotaku has verified that it is a working torrent, and VGC claims that anonymous sources within Twitch have confirmed that the data is legitimate. We have obviously reached out to Twitch for further comment, but had no response at the time of posting.

The consequences of a leak like this can be huge. Obviously, the first thing anyone with a Twitch account needs to do is immediately change their password and set up two-factor authentication. It is also advisable to reset your stream key to protect the data.

But the longer-term issues will be much more complex. Only financial information for big name streamers will be extremely serious for Twitch, with numbers in the millions of dollars.

In the leaked data is information about Vapor, Amazon’s alleged rival with Steam, which is said to integrate a store into the Twitch platform. More information will likely be revealed as the leak is investigated. And of course, this is marked as “part one” which suggests that a lot more information may have been compromised in the hack.

This all comes at a time of great tribulation for Twitch, with the # DoBetterTwitch / # TwitchDoBetter hashtags at the forefront of user efforts to demand better service from the platform, including boycotts to demand action on heinous raids. Twitch seems to be making positive gestures, but then always finds a way to do something terrible too.

We’ll keep you posted on the consequences of the leak, which is likely to cause serious consternation at Amazon. As the hacker put it on 4Chan, “Jeff Bezos paid $ 970 million for it, we’re giving it away for FREE.”