Remember that back in November of 2011, it was revealed that a bunch of encrypted personal information was acquired by "intruders" that managed to gain access to the Steam database and admin accounts for the forums?
Well, Valve's Gabe Newell just sent out a news update about the scope of what the person or persons managed to acquire. The news is both good and bad.
Yes, the bad news is that more information was stolen than initially thought. The good news is that the personal information was encrypted. As noted, they are still working with authorities on the investigation.
Well, Valve's Gabe Newell just sent out a news update about the scope of what the person or persons managed to acquire. The news is both good and bad.
Dear Steam Users and Steam Forum Users
We continue our investigation of last year's intrusion with the help of outside security experts. In my last note about this, I described how intruders had accessed our Steam database but we found no evidence that the intruders took information from that database. That is still the case.
Recently we learned that it is probable that the intruders obtained a copy of a backup file with information about Steam transactions between 2004 and 2008. This backup file contained user names, email addresses, encrypted billing addresses and encrypted credit card information. It did not include Steam passwords.
We do not have any evidence that the encrypted credit card numbers or billing addresses have been compromised. However as I said in November it's a good idea to watch your credit card activity and statements. And of course keeping Steam Guard on is a good idea as well.
We are still investigating and working with law enforcement authorities. Some state laws require a more formal notice of this incident so some of you will get that notice, but we wanted to update everyone with this new information now.
Gabe
We continue our investigation of last year's intrusion with the help of outside security experts. In my last note about this, I described how intruders had accessed our Steam database but we found no evidence that the intruders took information from that database. That is still the case.
Recently we learned that it is probable that the intruders obtained a copy of a backup file with information about Steam transactions between 2004 and 2008. This backup file contained user names, email addresses, encrypted billing addresses and encrypted credit card information. It did not include Steam passwords.
We do not have any evidence that the encrypted credit card numbers or billing addresses have been compromised. However as I said in November it's a good idea to watch your credit card activity and statements. And of course keeping Steam Guard on is a good idea as well.
We are still investigating and working with law enforcement authorities. Some state laws require a more formal notice of this incident so some of you will get that notice, but we wanted to update everyone with this new information now.
Gabe
Yes, the bad news is that more information was stolen than initially thought. The good news is that the personal information was encrypted. As noted, they are still working with authorities on the investigation.