Twitch, the popular streaming platform owned by Amazon, is dealing with an unprecedented hack of its website. On the morning of October 6, an anonymous 4chan user posted a 235GB torrent file that included Twitch's source code, details of the creator's earnings, and other sensitive information.
The leak does not appear to include personal information about Twitch streamers and viewers, such as user IDs or passwords; Much of what was released focuses on internal Twitch documentation. Twitch says it is still working to understand the scale of what was stolen, and that the company will update streamers and members of the Twitch community with more information when it becomes available. This is what we know now.
What was stolen from the Twitch breach?
The leaked information shared on Wednesday includes three years of creator earnings payments, dating back to 2019. This data has been collected online and covers the top 10,000 streamers. Various streamers, on social media and elsewhere, have confirmed that these numbers match their internal Twitch analyzes, but some say their numbers are wrong.
Hackers also say they have access to "confirm history dating back to [Twitch.tvโs] early starts ", meaning that you could save" snapshots "of each iteration of Twitch since its inception. Source code, too, for Twitch's console, desktop, and mobile clients has also been made available online, as has "code related to proprietary SDKs and internal AWS services used by Twitch." according to The Verge. Data from other Twitch properties, such as the IGBD video game database and the CurseForge mod management system, has also been leaked along with security tools and files related to a Steam competitor in development codenamed Vapor. , designed by Amazon Game Studios.
According to Vice, the information shared in the leak is not particularly "sensitive", at least for Twitch; shared information is more harmful to streamers themselves.
As The Verge reported, information released on Wednesday is labeled "part one," implying that more hacked data may be available. Twitch has not yet specifically commented on the stolen data.
So should I change my password?
The short answer here is yes, you should change your password, even if there is little evidence to suggest that the personal information on the Twitch account, other than the creator's earnings, has been compromised. However, the Twitch hacker may have more information that could include personal information, including passwords and other sensitive data.
Twitch hasn't addressed user security, although some Twitch users who logged into the streaming platform on Wednesday reported being asked to change their passwords. In general, it's also recommended to enable two-factor authentication if you haven't already done so; This step will make it more difficult for others to gain unauthorized access to your account, thus protecting any information there.
Why do people worry about creators' income?
Twitch streamers who make money from the platform are largely secretive about how much they make, and that's because anyone who has signed a contract with Twitch is supposedly forbidden to share that data. It's no secret that Twitch streamers make money through a variety of avenues, including subscriptions, donations, ads, and exclusive contracts. Curious parties may Simply add up the number of subscribers a person has to calculate a streamer's income in that area - subscriptions start at $ 4.99 and income is split with Twitch. Most streamers get a 50% subscription price cut, but Twitch allows some streamers to trade different splits.
But this list of creator earnings is significant because this type of data has never been discovered on this scale before. Among other things, the information here shows a huge disparity between the top Twitch streamers and the tens of thousands of streamers struggling to find an audience. The breach has also sparked conversations about Twitch's donation structure, which encourages viewers to "tip" streamers beyond their monthly subscription.
However, it is not entirely clear what these numbers encompass. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that the leaked earnings data appears to be a "combination of money earned from ads, subscriptions, and other features," neglecting any brand offers, YouTube earnings, merchandise, or donations made outside of Twitch. The numbers listed appear to add up to the total nontaxable earnings earned since 2019.
The primary channel listed as part of these income documents is Critical Role, the Dungeons and dragons Role-playing game channel where professional announcers act through a campaign. Was created by Supervision voice actor Matthew Mercer. The second highest earner, according to these leaked documents, is Felix "xQc" Lengyel, a controversial Canadian streamer and ex Supervision professional player. In total, these documents suggest that 81 streamers have earned more than $ 1 million from Twitch since 2019, and the top 10 Twitch winners received, in total, at least $ 49,993,651 in those three years.
The earnings report, according to the unconfirmed document, also highlights the disparities in Twitch's gender pay gap. Most of the streamers included in the top 100 are men; only three creators on the list are women, only one of whom is a woman of color, Kotaku reported Wednesday.
How are the streamers reacting?
Naturally, the Twitch hack is a big topic on Twitch. Many of the top streamers have chosen to discuss paid broadcast earnings throughout the day, many of whom are poking fun at money rankings: For example, political commentator and broadcaster Hasan โHasanAbiโ Piker captioned his broadcast โ# 13 RICHEST STREAMER ON THE PLANETโ, Commenting on their place on the money list to more than 44,000 viewers. Imane "Pokimane" Years, broadcasting to more than 20,000 viewers, he titled his broadcast similarly: "# 39 reporting for duty" and joking on twitter that "at least people can no longer exaggerate too much than 'making millions a month with my viewers'".
She continued: โI limited my donations a year ago because I am not at a point where sponsors, investments and exclusive contracts can sustain me. In a transparent way, the subs + stream ads are the lowest part of my income and I want them to keep putting that money in their pocket. "
The anonymous leaker, in the 4chan post with the hacked information, called the Twitch community "a disgusting toxic cesspool" and said the leak is intended to "encourage more disruption and competition in the video streaming space on line". The leaker closed the message with a hashtag, #TwitchDoBetter, a reference to a social media campaign started in August designed to highlight the harassment faced by black streamers on the platform.
Some streamers expressed their frustration at the leak using the hashtag #TwitchDoBetter. The hashtag was created in August in response to an increase in "hate raids" on the platform. The Hate Raiders misuse Twitch's raid feature, which allows a streamer to migrate their viewers to another stream, and send large numbers of viewers or toxic bots to underserved streamers, especially black streamers, queer streamers, female transmitters and color transmitters. Since then, Twitch has sued two people. for allegedly leading hate raids. Later in September, Twitch announced new features created to stop bullying on the site, including a feature that requires Twitch viewers to verify a phone number before they can use the chat feature.
To say that there is a gap between Twitch streamers and the company is an understatement. Streamers are frustrated by the company's perceived lack of accountability and security, particularly its lack of protection for underserved streamers, and Wednesday's attack only adds to that existing frustration.
