Twitch confirms major data breach with source code and internal documents

Live streaming service Twitch confirms that it has had to deal with a major data breach. In any case, the source code of the service and internal documents were captured. The company is currently investigating the extent of the leak.

“We can confirm that a breach has occurred,” writes Twitch on Twitter. “Our teams are working urgently to understand the magnitude of this.” The streaming service thanks users for their understanding and indicates that it will come with an update as soon as more information is available.

The data breach came to light earlier today, when an anonymous leaker posted a torrent file containing 128GB of Twitch data on 4chan. So far, that hacker has, among other things, published Twitch’s current and old source code, in addition to internal documents, which show, among other things, how much well-known streamers earn from advertising and subscription revenues on the platform. The documents would also refer to an unannounced Steam competitor from Amazon Game Studios, which would have the working title Vapor.

No Twitch account user data has been put online as of yet. With the information published, the hacker seems to be focusing more on Twitch’s business so far. The leaker previously said on 4chan that he or she hoped for “more disruption and competition in the online video streaming services.” The leaker would have done that because he or she no longer likes the existing communities on Twitch.

However, the leaker called his torrent file “Twitch Leak Part One,” suggesting more data will be published at a later date. Twitch appears to be advising users to change their passwords just to be safe, The Verge noted. The company is still investigating the extent of the data breach and it is not known whether user data such as passwords have also been stolen. There have been rumors about this, but they have not yet been confirmed at the time of writing.