Twitch Data Breach Exposes Payouts and Source Code
A massive cyberattack on Twitch leaks over 100GB of sensitive data, including streamer payouts and proprietary source code. The anonymous poster claims the breach is a response to recent hate raids on the platform.
Online gamers pay close attention as Twitch confirms a major cybersecurity attack that exposes over 100GB of sensitive data. An anonymous poster shares a 125GB torrent file on 4chan that contains internal company documents, proprietary source code, security tools, and user information. The massive leak causes a significant stir online by revealing exactly how much the live streaming platform pays its top elite gamers.
The leaked payment records show that Twitch pays more than $108,000 annually to at least 13 individual streamers since 2019, sparking widespread debates about streamer earnings and career sustainability. A Twitch spokeswoman declines to comment on the exact scope of the compromised data, though reports indicate the breach includes three years of payment history. As a subsidiary of Amazon, the incident raises concerns about potential connections to larger pools of corporate data.
The anonymous bad actor claims responsibility for the breach as an act of "hacktivism" in response to the hate raids that plagued Twitch in September. During those previous attacks, malicious users deployed bots to flood top streamers' chat rooms with abusive messages, prompting Twitch to sue two accused users. With over 7 million monthly streamers on the platform, this cyberattack holds serious implications for both the affected users and the overall security of the brand.