Amazon’s Twitch streaming service suffered a cyberattack during October 2021, as the New York Times reported. Here attackers claim they gained access to 126GB of data, including source code, payment details of content creators on the site, and a planned Amazon Game Studios product.
The attacker announced the hack on 4chan, noting the data leak was to “foster more disruption and competition” in online video streaming.
Twitch confirmed the data breach and noted they are working to understand the extent of breach.
Matt Sanders, Director of Security at LogRhythm, tells Digital Journal that this incident demonstrates how even seemingly robust and protected companies and fall foul to the activities of rogue actors.
Sanders also places the scale and impact of the attack into context, noting: “An Amazon-owned company like Twitch has far reaching access into millions of users and houses sensitive company information such as unique code and unreleased products.”
He adds: 2While many data breaches focus on user information, the attack on Twitch targets the company itself in an attempt to disrupt a successful company in a competitive landscape, especially during a time when online streaming is more popular than ever.”
There is also a question of ‘what next?’ Here Sanders speculates: “It’s likely that we will see an increase in attacks like this in the gaming and streaming communities as they only continue to increase in popularity.”
There are better measures that businesses can be adopting, Sanders notes: “In today’s modern, data-centric landscape, successful businesses that operate predominantly online and hold large quantities of sensitive information will always be an attractive target for attackers.”
Hence it is imperative that: “Organizations storing private information must ensure that data protection is of the utmost priority and must implement real-time monitoring and clear visibility to rapidly detect and neutralize security threats.”
In the meantime, the security expert recommends: “Because it’s still unclear how much user information has been impacted due to the breach, Twitch users should also update their passwords and keep up with proper password hygiene.”
