Oh dear, just when we thought that the whole “hack something related to gaming” fad had finally died off, here comes news that one of the largest digital distribution systems in the world has been compromised.
Valve boss Gabe Newell has confirmed that user details and credit card information may have been compromised in an attack on the Steam network that occurred last week Sunday, from which hacking group fkn0wned claimed responsibility.
“I am truly sorry this happened and I apologize for the inconvenience,” Newell said in a statement. “Our Steam forums were defaced on the evening of Sunday, November 6. We began investigating and found that the intrusion goes beyond the Steam forums”.
“We learned that intruders obtained access to a Steam database in addition to the forums. This database contained information including user names, hashed and salted passwords, game purchases, email addresses, billing addresses and encrypted credit card information”.
“We do not have evidence that encrypted credit card numbers or personally identifying information were taken by the intruders, or that the protection on credit card numbers or passwords was cracked. We are still investigating. We don’t have evidence of credit card misuse at this time. Nonetheless you should watch your credit card activity and statements closely”.
Once the system comes back online, all Steam users will need to reset their passwords, with Newell urging customers to re-secure their accounts. The Steam forums have been offline since the Sunday night attack, with an ETA of service restoral being uncertain at this point.
Last Updated: November 11, 2011
