In the digital age, hacks, leaks, and other corruptions of personal data are common occurrences. But it's even more worrying when it involves a service as popular as Steam, which has billing and banking information. That's why you should already be wary of this threatening news. It seems that information related to tens of millions of Steam accounts have been put up for sale on the dark web.
It wasn't Steam itself that was hacked, but a third-party service called Twilio. The latter is notably used by the platform to send the famous two-factor authentication (2FA) codes via SMS. As a result, if you've already received one of these messages to secure your account, your data could be affected. Journalist MellowOnline1, known for his expertise on Steam, claims that the data reseller is offering $5,000 for the information he holds, and that this concerns nearly two-thirds of users.
Fortunately, according to the hacker's claims, he only intercepted phone numbers associated with 2FA codes, timestamps, and other metadata. The authentication codes are likely expired, and this won't allow him to access your account. However, this theft opens the door to other risks, including phishing attempts. That's why you need to be extremely careful.
Protect yourself now
If you have a Steam account, there's no reason to panic, but you need to act quickly. The first step to re-secure your account is to change your password. Carefully follow the site's security guidelines and remember that your password must be unique for each site. It's best to activate a password manager. These tools create and/or store strong passwords for you, so you no longer need to remember them.
Even if you are not one of the affected users, which is currently impossible to verify, this incident is a good reminder to be careful. Our online data is often stored by several companies, not just the one we interact with directly. Steam, like other platforms, works with partners to provide its services, and the more players there are, the more likely it is to create vulnerabilities. It is therefore important to frequently update your information and stay alert to various data leaks.
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